


From Girl to Glaive

by adrimars



Series: Paeoniae Exercitu ad Regem Regum [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV, Final Fantasy XV Comrades
Genre: F/M, Gen, slight crossover and nod to another series
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2018-01-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 12:55:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 57,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13147149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adrimars/pseuds/adrimars
Summary: Five years after the end of the Starscourge, local library archivist and former Kingsglaive soldier, Briony Pacem, shares the past memories she recently lost from ten years ago to old friends and colleagues one night, right after she receives a set of undocumented original manuscripts of the Cosmogony from a mysterious donor. She shares her memories of all the important people she met as a young Glaive trainee, the duties she performed as part of the intel unit of Kingsglaive from spying on enemy high-ranked officials to assassinating key figures and other covert missions she was assigned behind enemy territory, and how several things drastically changed on her homecoming back to Lucis.





	1. The Imaginary Friend

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a long time coming, but I finally began to start my very first Final Fantasy XV fanfic. I waited for about a year since the game's release because of all the DLCs and other updates added to the canon story (especially Episode Ignis, which also provides us a "verse 2" ending). Throughout my years writing fanfics, I never really created an original character and then make him/her as the main character of any fanfic I've written in the past. However, thanks to the multiplayer Comrades DLC, I decided to take the opportunity to use my Glaive character (Briony Pacem) from Comrades and create a backstory and how she (and other surviving Kingsglaive - these soldiers deserve credit!) have made an impact on the new adventures of our beloved FFXV characters, which, of course, includes our four bros.
> 
> And yes, because of the DLCs, if you are also a fan of the Assassin's Creed series, this story has a lot of nods to the AC lore (in particular, the Assassin's Festival DLC in FFXV). After all, both FFXV and Assassin's Creed Origins have special DLCs with each other, so why not a nod and play along?
> 
> Also, I have to be very careful with this one, considering that there have been some anal, bitter gamers out there who have been complaining about the main story and some missing plot holes and inconsistencies, etc. But, this fanfic aims at fellow fans like myself without questioning the technicalities or even starting some random debates on why this isn't possible or possible, etc. We all have better things to do in our lives and debating and hating aren't them.
> 
> Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to share this series with you. Hope you enjoy. Comments are always welcome. Keep in mind that these are rough drafts and Grammarly can only help me as much with the grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Thank you again!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Since the end of the Starscourge, the Hunters of Lucis traveled around Lucis, collecting and compiling short memoirs and stories from a collective number of individuals and their memories of their lives during the Starscourge. On the second volume of their "REAL STARSCOURGE TALES FROM REAL, EVERYDAY LUCIANS" anthology series, 40-year-old Lestallum-born Briony Pacem was interviewed and published her story in the second volume of the short story and memoirs collection.
> 
> Rather than just sharing a defining moment in her life during the Starscourge, she decides to share her story about her childhood imaginary friend, a young blue-eyed, black-clad boy named Nyx.

###  _An Excerpt from REAL STARSCOURGE TALES FROM REAL, EVERYDAY LUCIANS, vol. 2_

_**Interviews and Short Stories compiled by the Hunters of Lucis**_  
_(second volume of the series published in M.E. 771, five years after the end of the Starscourge)_

_Our second interview story of the second volume of the Starscourge Tales Anthology comes from Lestallum, the “City of Light” of Lucis, who goes by the name of Briony Pacem (38, as of this writing), a simple lady working as a local archivist at the Kingdom of Lucis Public Library, Lestallum Branch. Like our previous interviewee for this volume, Lestallum-native Briony knew a lot more of the real dangers and struggles against the daemons and witnessed and confronted daemons more dangerous and deadly than those we see around our home soils. During the Starscourge, she was a former soldier of the Kingsglaive, the coveted royal elite military battalion of Lucis founded exclusively by the late King Regis Lucis Caelum CXIII, as a member of the battalion’s intel unit. Unlike many other Kingsglaive soldiers in general, she and a select few of the intel unit were deployed directly behind enemy lines at Tenebrae and Niflheim to gather intel, spying, and if necessary, infiltration and assassination of enemy targets in secret._

_Like many remaining Kingsglaive soldiers, she suffered from partial amnesia ten years before the traces of the Long Night. Fifteen years later from that fateful night, Briony was selected to be part of the anthology and was asked to contribute any memorable story that she can recall from her past during the Starscourge. She chose to write about an unusual moment in her life that eventually led her to find her calling and enlisting to the coveted Kingsglaive._

_She begins her story by introducing a mysterious childhood imaginary friend named Nyx, who somehow gave her the influence to finding her own path, leaving her naive and simple small town girl life in Lestallum, and pursue a path in civil service as a Glaive and the eventual relocation to the Crown City._

I’m Briony Pacem, an archivist at the Lestallum Branch of the Kingdom of Lucis Public Library system. A few colleagues and I are working on re-analyzing through comparisons and contrasts of the past and present versions of the Cosmogony, as an attempt to release another revised edition to be published and released throughout Eos. Call it the post-Starscourge edition of the Cosmogony, as we will also be including many extensive notes based on personal experiences (such as the publication of these Real Starscourge Tales series), news clippings, as well as many interviews from many key individuals who have made an impact on our world during that long period of darkness.

I have been working as an archivist for some three years now. A year before that, I was unemployed and did mostly voluntary work during the rebuilding and restoration of Lestallum and all of Lucis post-Starscourge. Ten years before that, I was a Glaive, both served behind enemy territory and out on the battlefield, weeks before the so-called peace treaty signing between Lucis and Niflheim. I briefly lived in Insomnia for almost two years because of my duties as a new Glaive. My first year consisted of Glaive training from open combat skills, weaponry, and magic. I started doing some easy clerical work at the HQ in Insomnia for a few months, up until I was finally called up by the commanders and deployed me with a number of experienced senior intel Glaives in secret to the enemy territory. One half of us were assigned to Gralea, the then-capital city of Niflheim. My small unit was deployed in Tenebrae, in a suburban city called Piztala, just some miles away from Tenebrae’s capital city, Ulwaat. For the most of my Glaive career, I have lived in Tenebrae for almost four years with barely any contact with my family and friends back home in Lucis. Just some few months since I arrived home, events turned the tide with the announcement of the end of the centuries war with a peace treaty signing, along with its painful terms. The only term that wasn’t painful there was to see the late Oracle and the late 114th king to be married.

It took me several years, ten years and counting, for me to recover all of my memories when our interim captain, Libertus Ostium, and other remaining Glaives found me and picked me up, finally taking me back home to Lestallum. The remaining surviving Glaives and I suffered partial amnesia after the downfall of the Crown City, and in my case, I only remembered my name, where I was from, the things I’ve learned since childhood, such as various self-defense arts my dad and brother taught me and the rest of the women in my family, but I couldn’t remember what I was doing in Insomnia after that time, what my role was, and even wondered why some people continued to stare at me like I was some kind of a wanted person dead or alive. I recalled following a group of people marching out to the bridge leading to the West Gate border between Insomnia and Leide. I struggled then to remember anything about my participation during that fateful day that I ended up wandering out from the pack. I took several part-time jobs as a waitress at various Crow’s Nest Diners throughout Duscae so I can earn some money for me to survive and get back home to Lestallum, to my family. Of course, when luck brought Libertus and other Glaives to me that day, I thought that I was finally home and free. It turns out that, because of the more grave conditions involving the daemons and that the days were reducing slowly, my little bustling cultural town of Lestallum had become a brand-new headquarters of all warriors from all nations of Eos, starting with my dad, brother, and their band of hunters, the remaining Glaives, remaining Crownsguard, and even former troopers from Altissia and the crumbling Niflheim Empire. My days as a part-time Crow’s Nest waitress and part-time daemon bounty hunter ended then and resumed my duties as a Glaive. Since then, I remained a Glaive for the next ten years until the Starscourge finally ended. So, in total, I have been a Glaive for about fifteen years.

My dad always taught me while growing up that things happen for a deeper reason, especially those that most people won’t be able to understand why it happened in the first place. I was a curious, meddling child, asking both Mom and Dad questions about life in general. One of the questions that I asked was why daemons exist and why they hate humans? You know, those daemons attacking and biting humans and eventually become daemons themselves? Mom wouldn’t know because she was focused more on keeping up the electrical power throughout Lucis outside Insomnia. Dad, and eventually brother Nero, would answer with words like “patience is a virtue.”

Every single morning, on my way out to school, starting from elementary till high school, I would always pass by the flying ebony and gold banner of Lucis hanging at the side of our apartment building. And when I do, I would stare at it for a few seconds, and then I would bow to it and greet it.

“Good morning, Lucis!”

It was my way of greeting the entire kingdom of Lucis a good morning, from everyone living throughout the kingdom up to the mighty king of Lucis, King Regis Lucis Caelum the 113th. Whew, that’s a lot of kings! I started honoring and greeting the Lucian flag ever since I was a toddler, whenever my dad would be taking me to school before. He would always take a bow and say good morning to the flag, representing our kingdom and everyone living in that said kingdom. It became a childhood habit that bowing and greeting the flag a good morning had become natural to me.

At that time, not everything throughout the kingdom was clean and perfect. It may be a good morning to many of the lucky Lucians, but that wasn’t always the case with others. I’ve heard many stories about prowling daemons and much more powerful daemons prancing around during night from my father and eventually my brother, both were hunters and work daily at the Meldacio Hunter HQ. On weekends, both Dad and Nero would come home from the Meldacio HQ to be with my mother, sister, and me, as one family. It was our only family time, especially on Sundays. And out of that weekend are a series of adventure stories of their hunting— hunting daemons, that is.

Ever since I was a little girl, my father would always teach my older siblings and me the meaning of responsibility, discipline, loyalty, and respect. With the insistence of my mother, a proud senior EXINERIS engineer, all three of us were also taught a variety of self-defense skills that most of the hunters use for their missions and escapades against the daemons. Dad said that the origins of the hunters stem all the way back to Lucian Royalty, and even their somewhat simple but very effective self-defense arts was also stemmed from the Those four things applied greatly in our lives, regardless of the paths we’ve chosen after we passed on the child stage. Dad also taught me to show respect and appreciation towards the flag of Lucis that’s hanging on the side of our apartment building. Lestallum is one of the proudest cities to exist in Lucis, just a tad second after the Crown City. While the Crown City had the crystal, Lestallum had the meteor shards.

My brother, the firstborn of our family, already wanted to become a hunter just like Dad, and he was already dead set on the career path ever since he was little. My sister Tamzin was really well-versed with puzzles, math, and sciences, and it became obvious that she was going to follow Mom’s footsteps as an engineer at the EXINERIS power plant. Both my siblings already heard their calling, and have focused on those paths on their own.

But I, on the other hand, had none. Being the third and youngest of the three, I was stuck in the middle. But, with my brother being six years older and my sister being four years older than me, the only thing my parents encouraged me to do was to live as a normal, happy girl. However, throughout most of my childhood, I was a lot more curious than happy. I wanted to see how the world was like outside Lestallum, but because of the daemons and an overprotective hunter father and an overprotective hunter brother, I was not even allowed to leave town, even with adult supervision. The closest place that I’ve been to outside of Lestallum was the Meldacio Hunter HQ, when hunters were allowed to bring in their kids to their station. Boring.

As a girl, I lived a normal childhood, somewhat. My craving for knowing more about the world outside Lestallum didn’t really introduce me to the concept of a social life. I preferred books over friends, sometimes I’d talk to myself as if I was in another land outside Lestallum. I didn’t really care what other kids thought of me and my quirks because in my world, I was the ruler and I make my own rules. I also dabbled in music, listening to all the local buskers and corner musicians throughout town, and even convinced my mom to buy me a guitar. I remember borrowing my dad's old record player and play those old records, using the oldies for me to learn how to play guitar. At Lestallum, everybody sang and danced. I was more of a singer than a dancer, singing praises to all the good, positive things in life. I even wrote a song about the Lucian flag hanging outside our apartment building, but I haven't really gotten around to fix the lyrics just yet.

And then, this random song that came to my mind one day. I wrote them down in a notebook and even remembered the tune in my head. The lyrics went something like this:

Let there be light throughout the world  
While there is darkness, too much of one side is bad  
If both are together, everything will be perfect  
And so I shall pray that opposites become one

I’m longing and I’m waiting for the sun to rise  
And all the stars and the moon bring shine from the dark sky  
We are waiting for you, we are waiting for you  
We are waiting for you, our King of Kings

All of that, aside from the books and the guitar, ended on my tenth birthday. When I woke up in the morning the day after my birthday and walked on my way to school, I stopped by the black and gold flag of Lucis hanging by the side of our apartment building. And as usual, I would bow to the flag and say “Good morning, Lucis,” just like before. But right after that greeting, I heard someone returning the greeting, with the words loud and clear:

“Good morning, Daughter of Lucis.”

I turned to see who said that, as if I felt I was being mocked, and there he was. He showed up right behind me with those doe blue eyes and an innocent smile that would make you suspect that he was up to no good. I pretty much knew every single kid living in Lestallum, whether they were older or younger or that they attended a different school. But this particular kid who just appeared behind my back really stood out. No kid ever wears nothing but black in Lestallum. This kid looked like he was the grim reaper’s son, but his personality was anything but.

This is what happens when you fail to make friends during your first ten years of your life. Out of the blue, someone whom you can only see will appear in your life, insisting that he is your very special friend, and as long as I continue to be happy and positive, he will always be there for me. He said to me that when I finally make new friends, he will disappear, but will continue to watch over me when that day arrives.

He looked a little younger than me, a lot shorter than me, maybe two years younger, but he appeared a lot smarter than I thought he was for his age. He had dark jet black hair that shaped like a droopy bowl, but he didn’t look bad. He had deep blue eyes that always twinkled when he smiled. Just like the kids living in the Crown City, he always wore black. He wore a black hoodie, a black t-shirt, black knee-length shorts, and black canvas sneakers. Sometimes he would show up with a black cap or a black beanie. The only thing that wasn’t black on him was his ankle socks. The white really complimented his black canvas sneakers. Regardless of the black color he was donning, he was fair-skinned and flawless, like he never got hurt or was never touched by anything or anyone at all. When you looked at him, even in black, it looked like the sun always shone right upon him, as if he was being sent and watched over by the gods above.

The black color may be a symbol of the Kingdom of Lucis, but personally, I never liked the color black. It looked really dull, not fun, and whenever you see someone wearing black, it seems like he just rose up from the dead. Still, my dad would always warn me never to make fun of the color black or even look down upon it. He always reminded me that the black wasn’t just a symbol of the kingdom, but it was also the signature color of the Lucian Royalty and its High Council. One time, I asked my father if it was possible for someone like me to actually meet the king or any members of the royal family. He said that anything is possible, but in this case, the easiest way to have an audience with the Lucian Royal Family was to live within the walls of Insomnia or slightly in the outskirts, like the province of Cavaugh or the area in Eastern Leide. As a curious little girl, that became one of my goals: have an audience with the king and the royal family, or maybe just any royal would do, even the young crown prince is more than enough. The reason for the audience? I don’t know, just to hang out maybe?

Regardless of his habit of wearing everything black, or at least dark solid colors close to black, his personality doesn’t quite match the black. He was just your average, normal brat who likes to bug and tease the big sister whenever she starts having a crush on some boy or something. But this kid, he just liked to bug me in general, from my homework to the chores that I had to do at home to even the other kids in school I end up hanging out with, even for group homework sessions. He was always cheerful and happy, but at the same time, he was irritating and annoying. Still, even if I was the only time who saw him, he really did become one very special friend.

One early morning, the next day after he appeared behind my back, this time, he appeared sitting down at the edge of my bed. I was going to say that he was waiting for me to wake up, but that wasn’t the case. He was slapping my face and shaking my body several times, left and right, just to get my eyes open and fully wake up. It was time to get ready for school, he said. I asked him who he was and how he got in. The only thing he answered to me was:

“Name’s Nyx. What am I doing here? Dunno. Ask that yourself.”

I rolled my eyes whenever Nyx would answer me with some smart-ass answer such as that. He seemed to be having fun making me look bad, but at the same time, he also showed his care for me whenever the chips are down. Wherever I went from that day, he followed behind, tailing me like a little lost puppy. I even asked my family about Nyx, and they just laughed at me because they don’t see or know any kid named Nyx living in Lestallum. My brother Nero and my sister Tamzin swore that I was having some kind of a mental disorder because of my awkwardness, but Dad always looked at things on a positive light and said that Nyx may be my personal guardian angel. I even asked my teachers and some classmates when I arrived at school that day. No kid named Nyx here and there. One teacher told me that Nyx was a common boy’s name in the areas near the Crown City. There were a lot of Nyxes living in the Crown City too, as well as the two neighboring provinces around it: Galahd and Cavaugh.

My father, a senior hunter working at the Meldacio Hunter HQ alongside Dave Auburnbrie, the field commander of the hunters, had plenty of connections with the authorities throughout Lucis, as every hunter should. The Hunters weren’t just hunters, but they were outside Crown City paramilitary patrolmen, keeping humankind safe and protected from daemons appearing here and there. The Hunters also had to lay low against the Niff invaders, not because they were scared of them, but they don’t want to lose sight on the daemons, as well as remaining loyal to the Lucian Royalty in secret, even after Insomnia’s downfall. They did so many things in the name of Lucis, from researching its very rich and mysterious history to making contacts and deals with every city and region government. My father had friends in the Crown City Census Bureau and, as a favor to me, had them search for a little boy around the age of eight to twelve whose first name was Nyx. Unfortunately, the results were about some two hundred Crown City-born boys whose first name was Nyx. One of those two hundred-something Crown City, Galahd, and Cavaugh-born boys became my future Glaive training mentor, Nyx Ulric.

And before I continue, my imaginary friend Nyx is not Nyx Ulric. The hero of the Kingsglaive was seven years older than me. It makes no sense to have an imaginary friend younger than me with the first name of Nyx that is based on a real person several years older than me.

I mentioned to him, maybe I was being haunted by some poor deceased kid named Nyx. Dad thinks that there’s no such thing as a friendly ghost at this period. The spirit would either be transformed into a daemon or the spirit would likely be trapped in another dimension, like through a mirror or something. Little Nyx was way too free and liberated to be a spirit, he said, so he concluded that this kid is a figment of my unexplainable imagination. Great, I thought. Just great.

Still, even during classes, Nyx was there, sitting right behind me. If I was the last person in the row, he would just lean against the wall, watching me from behind. Even during lunch, when I sat alone, he was there right in front of me. We talked many times, asked him who he really was but he wouldn’t tell me. He kept on answering the same answer every time I would ask him about himself. His repeated answer was always “Your very special friend.”

Whenever I go to the library, go to the groceries, even stop by the power plant to visit my mom or even get picked up by Tamzin, Nyx never left my side. When I did my homework and get stuck at a problem, he was there as my own personal tutor. Some few months later, Nyx even started appearing to me in different styles of clothes, like wearing a beanie or a cap. Still, he wore that dreary black color every single time. He still wouldn’t tell me who he really was whenever I asked the question, but I did ask him about his favorite color of his clothes.

“I’m Lucian, just like you,” Nyx answered me regarding the color black. “The color is the symbol of our kingdom, you know? Our national flag is black, almost everybody at the Crown City and its neighboring regions wore black, the symbol of authority and monarchy is also black. But I get that you don’t wear black here at Lestallum because you’re so far away from the Crown City.”

“You still haven’t told me where you’re originally from, Nyx,” I would counter his answers with more demands.

“I already told you and you still don’t know how to think Briony. Ask yourself.”

Right then, I gasped in shock. “Are you… dead?”

Nyx broke into laughter. “Girl, you mad? But eventually, I will be dead, just like you and everyone else.” Of course, he had a point.

I still found myself scratching my head. “But… I don’t get it.” I began to think, asking myself like he said. I still didn’t get the answer until he finally gave up playing mind games with me.

“Fine, fine, I give up. You really are hopeless, aren’t you? You’re way different when you’re near my age compared to the Briony Pacem I know.”

“The Briony that you know?”

Nyx shrugged his shoulders. ”I’m a part of your future, Briony. That’s what I mean.”

“Er… excuse me? Part of my future? Are you like… my future son or something?”

Once again, Nyx laughed. “I’m way better looking than you, sister, hell no!”

I raised an eyebrow after he gave me another insult. “Okay, so you’re not my future son. Maybe you’re a future son of one of my friends?”

“Er… you could say that. Yeah, sure.”

“I guess you still won’t tell me the name of your parents, huh?”

“Well, well,” Nyx smirked. “Since I’m part of your future, I decided to come visit the past you. You’re so gullible, you know? I can’t believe that you became the person I’ve admired so much in my time.”

I still didn’t understand about him being from my future. I still know that no one else can see him except me, to the point that I was beginning to think that I was just imagining him standing there, talking to me, when all this time, I was talking to myself.

“Never mind, Briony, I’ll wait till you get older, like way older, when you finally learn how to think.”

“Are you making fun of me?” I raised an eyebrow with slight fury, making this kid Nyx laugh again.

“You know what, never mind,” Nyx ended his laughter. To my surprise, he changed the tone of his voice. “When the right time comes, you’re going to meet my parents. When that time comes, both my parents will also disappear… before I come into existence. I came to you now because it is your destiny to save their lives. Without them, I will not exist.”

“Huh?” I blinked curiously, now scratching my head. “Who’s your mom and dad? I thought I’m the one who made you exist?”

“You are,” Nyx said. “But one day, when the time comes, I’ll eventually disappear from your life, right when you make new friends.”

I frowned, crossing my arms. “But what if I don’t want you to disappear?”

“Hm, sadly, I don’t know the answer to that. But, if you don’t want me to disappear, then you shouldn’t fail in saving my parents’ lives in the coming future. That’s all.”

I sighed, burying my head against my homework notebook. Right then, I felt something warm touching my head that somehow made me feel comfortable. When I looked up, I noticed Nyx closer to me now, with his hand touching my head.

Wait, I thought to myself. If Nyx really was my imaginary friend, how come I can feel the warmth of his touch on my head? Slowly, I reached upward to hold his hand holding my head. I gasped when I felt his hand, soft, gentle, warm, real. I didn’t understand how this is possible. If he were my imaginary friend, he would be a ghost and I wouldn’t be able to feel him.

But I can feel his warmth. He was real. Nyx was real. And yet, no one except me can see him?

“You exist,” I said to him. “You’re real.”

He smiled at me as if he felt relieved. “I’m real because of you. But I don’t have much time.”

“What do you mean?”

“My mom and dad… they both need to be saved. I’m already looking at you, and eventually the friends you will meet in the future, to go and save them. If you don’t and fail… I won’t be existing in your future.”

Now my mind is completely perplexed. “But… if my future friends and I are going to save your mom and dad… how do we know who they are and… how do we save them? Come on, Nyx, we won’t know until you tell me now?”

Nyx just shook his head. “It’s too risky. I don’t mean to offend you or anything, but… if I tell you who I really am, and if I tell you who my parents are, you and your friends might get killed.”

At that time, I shook my head, indicating that Nyx only made my life worse. Or rather, he just made me a lot dumber than I already was. I ended up giving up and continued on living my usual life. Still, Nyx remained on my side.

When I first met my four new friends in the next year in sixth grade, Celestine Pryor, Lena Locklear, Cecil Britney, and Aaron Marshall, I thought that Nyx would finally disappear. It was awkward, the way we met. When you reach the age of eleven and the early years of adolescence, the early stages of puppy love begin at that time, for some kids anyway. It was an early morning with the usual habit of me greeting the Lucian flag a good morning. Nyx was standing right behind me, but he didn’t say anything that there was an incoming clumsy person coming my way.

He let the accident happen when Aaron Marshall, my school’s most popular boy in sixth grade, so I heard anyway, accidentally bumped on to me behind, letting me fall right flat on my face against the street. I glared at Nyx, laughing and pointing at me, but instead, Aaron helped me up and apologized for not keeping his eyes forward and bumping on my back that led me to fall on the street. The two girls chasing after him from behind, Celestine Pryor and Lena Locklear, finally caught up to him but did not squeal right away when they spotted some random girl their desired boy pushed on the ground for. And then from behind the girls was Aaron’s best friend, the slightly stout Cecil Britney. Being an awkward kid that I was, I apologized for being on Aaron’s way and ran off to the streets, right at the school gates.

Nyx still remained present in my life, so much that I was beginning to feel conscious of my reputation. Because of it, just to save my reputation, I decided not to reveal to my new friends about my so-called imaginary friend. After I ran out from them, later during recess, Aaron and Cecil caught up with me, inviting me to hang out with them. Those two boys became my very first friends. Some weeks later, Celestine and Lena decided to become friends with me, even though I knew deep inside that they were going to use me just so they can get closer to Aaron. Still, it was too early for me to pinpoint which one of these four will be the traitor, as Nyx declared, so I decided to ignore the thought for the time being.

At that time, I thought Nyx would finally disappear, now that I have made new friends. Even with Aaron, Cecil, Celestine, and Lena were with me now, Nyx was still hanging around as if he was the sixth person in our little circle. When alone, I asked Nyx how and why he still remained even though I met new friends for the first time.

“It’s because these are the wrong types of friends,” he answered. “But eventually, you’ll meet the right ones when you get older.”

“What do you mean by the wrong type?”

Nyx walked around me with his fingers on his chin. “Well… um… how should I say this? I guess I wanted to say…”

“What?”

“You have four new friends now. I didn’t mean that it’s a bad idea to be friends with those four.” He took the time to walk around my four new friends individually until he stopped right next to Lena. “But, I’ll say this to you. Three of them become heroes, one of them becomes a traitor.”

“Say what? Heroes and traitors of what, exactly?”

Nyx led out a deeper sigh. “Do you ever read the newspaper or even watch the news on TV? I mean, it’s pretty embarrassing that you’re an idiot with current affairs when your dad’s a hunter and your mom’s an EXINERIS technician. You know, the war!”

Right, I thought. Yes, I was aware of the war, but as a pre-adolescent kid with an almost non-existent social life, he couldn’t blame me for not paying attention. Those words began to echo through my mind throughout middle school about my four friends. Three of them become heroes, and one becomes a traitor. Which one among Aaron, Cecil, Celestine, and Lena becomes a traitor? And if Nyx mentioned about the war between Lucis and Niflheim, then that must mean that whoever the traitor is among the four will be siding with the Niffs. Better cut ties with that friend now, I thought, but Nyx still refused to reveal names. Because I was still a naive moron, unable to read minds of other people, I pretty much ignored that thought.

High school came, and the latest buzz among the youth at that time are stories printed on newspaper and broadcast on the local news of the good, heroic deeds of the Kingsglaive. There was a general belief among the townsfolk that only those who live in the Crown City, or that those who are of the wealthy, noble class are the only ones who get to enlist in either the Crownsguard or the Kingsglaive. The former may be true, but when the news crews went on actual battle scenes to have short interviews with many Kingsglaive there, many of us became ecstatic that the majority of these powerful, elite Glaives happened to be native sons and daughters of Lucis. They all came from all over the place: Galahd, Cavaugh, Leide, Duscae, and I gleefully shouted with joy when I learned that many of these heroic Glaives were native-born Lestallians. While watching the news and reading the newspaper, Nyx, as always, was present.

One night before I went to bed, Nyx sat on the side of the bed while I was putting away my school books and getting ready for bed. At age fourteen and showing my excitement and enthusiasm about the news of the Glaives’ heroic deeds and some victories against the Niffs, he blurted out from out of the blue to me:

“You should join the Glaives, Briony.”

At first, I heard he was up to his usual jokes and teasing again when I said. “Do I look like Glaive material to you? I look cheap fighting the way hunters do compared to the way the Glaives fight. All those warping and surprise attacking and the wielding of different weapons from thin air? Just let me stay home and admire my new role models, alright?”

“I’m serious this time, Briony. You should join the Glaives. No joke.”

“Didn’t you hear what I said before? The whole warping and magic and—”

“Girl, don’t matter. Just enlist… when you get older. You’d be surprised. Trust me on this one.”

I was still suspicious of Nyx’s suggestion of joining the Glaives after high school, but I didn’t exactly reject it either. “Er, right. I’ll… think about it.” 

As I got older, things changed, my mindset changed, my outlook on life changed, and yet, Nyx still remained. Not only that, Nyx never really got older, and just like from Day One, he still wore the dreaded black color on his clothes. In high school, all those four years, and even with homework and projects, Nyx still remained as my tutor of smarts. On my second year of high school, I finally revealed to my family about my interest in enlisting with the Glaives. At first, Dad was against it, but Mom kept reminding Dad that if women can run an entire region of Lucis outside Insomnia with that one single power plant in Lestallum, girls can also become Glaives. Nero and Tamzin liked the idea, that I finally found my path that can make a difference in our home. Not only that I will be serving Lestallum and my fellow Cleignians against the Niffs and the daemons, but I will be serving the entire kingdom of Lucis. Not just that, Nero also reminded me that I will be having a higher chance of winning an audience with King Regis or even his son, Crown Prince Noctis, if I do enlist as a Glaive. Dad was finally convinced and then decided to put me back into more training again.

And speaking of training, Nyx also started becoming my shadow sparring partner. I was quite surprised that the kid also knew how to fight. I still asked more questions about him, where he learned his self-defense arts. He still refused to talk about his real background, but he did say that one of his father’s bros trained him the formal way, while the sister of his father’s bro trained him the same hunter-style self-defense arts like I did. I asked him if his parents were hunters too after that.

“Um… my mom? Not really. She’s way too nice. My dad? Oh hell yeah, one of the best hunters that ever lived, even though most hunters never really knew his name.”

“Er, okay.”

My brother even mentioned to me one time that my shadow duel training was impressive because it looked like I was actually sparring with another person. Little did he know that Nyx had been my sparring partner all this time, regardless of his young age. Alongside with the training in preparation of my upcoming Glaive enlisting, most likely after high school, both my dad and brother started taking me to a few of their bounty hunting quests over the weekend and experience how it’s really like hunting a daemon.

Dad said to me one time, “A lot of the duties as a Glaive when you are out in the battlefield are eradicating daemons. The Niffs themselves aren’t a problem, but the daemons they unleash on our lands is where the real problem is.” That was why my hunter family decided to take me to simple bounty hunting quests so I can gain more experience.

Eventually, sometime halfway till the end of my second year of high school, I finally revealed to my four friends of my intention of joining the Glaives after high school graduation. Aaron and Cecil were also aiming to join the Glaives too, while the girls didn't really think about what they're going to do right after high school. Still, they all had the same destination goal: Insomnia. To us outside wall Lucians, Insomnia is the City of Dreams. All those bright lights, the hottest fashion trends, those stylish fast cars, the coolest gadgets such as a smartphone, those tall skyscrapers, that trendy food that you see at the strip malls and even at the street corners, but most of all, sighing at the majestic towers of the Citadel. But of course, for us to get there, we need to have the right plans before we can jump in and proceed. Almost everyone in high school is shooting for Insomnia as their lifelong goal after school. We have a university campus here, but everyone is really aiming for the top university located in the Crown City. And of course, there are others like me, who wants to get into civil service by joining the Glaives.

When third-year high school began, my friends and I decided to start earning some money early if we were going to move to Insomnia. Just like the musical buskers that we see in almost every corner around the streets of Lestallum, I decided to show off my guitar and songwriting skills and decided to do some part-time busking ourselves. Even though we were small town compared to all the professional buskers around us, we did gain some audiences and earned enough money for a possible cheap apartment rental fee in the Crown City. Most of the songs we sang were covers from our local artists that we hear on the radio. Love songs, to be specific, because both Celestine and Lena wanted to be the lead singers. Aaron was the other guitarist and Cecil played the bongos. We performed in the streets for about two hours every other afternoon right after school, and then four hours on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. We often joked about becoming a famous band one day, touring all over Lucis, and most of all, performing in front of the king and the royal family. Of course, with the war and those damn daemons frolicking around, the dream about us becoming famous was never going to happen. I truly missed those musical days.

Even though it may sound a little strange that I’ve listened to my imaginary friend Nyx instead of taking advice from someone in real life, I never regretted that decision. Now that I’m writing down this short memoir, I regretted nothing as a Glaive. I was proud and honored to have given my services for Lucis, even if I almost got killed doing them. I didn’t regret meeting wonderful people among the Glaives, even though the majority of them are no longer here with us. Another thing that shocked about the things Nyx have advised me as a naive Lestallum teenager was that he was right on many things. Because of that, I was convinced then that this kid definitely did some time traveling somehow, and he was currently at that young age when he did it. But of all people, even I ask this today, why me? He could’ve chosen some random person, but why specifically me?

Eventually, the day finally arrived when Nyx was ready to disappear from my life. He did say that he will leave my life once I’ve met new friends. Apparently, he wasn’t talking about my childhood friends, but the friends that I will eventually meet when I got older. I graduated with full honors back in high school, though I wasn’t the Valedictorian. I earned two scholarships: one sponsored by the Meldacio Hunter HQ, known as the Auburnbrie Family Scholarship, awarded to children of retired, former, and current hunters. The other one was sponsored by EXINERIS Industries, called the Daughters of EXINERIS scholarship, awarded to daughters of retired, former, and current EXINERIS employees. I wrote a scholarship essay regarding my desire to join the Kingsglaive, and how I felt that I qualify, both physically and mentally, from training and learning from both my parents because one was a hunter and the other a senior EXINERIS engineer, and that both fields can really help me shape up to be a qualified candidate as a new Kingsglaive soldier.

“The time has almost come and I am running out of time,” Nyx said to me when we got home from my graduation ceremony. “Anytime now and I’ll be gone.”

“Do you really have to leave?”

“I don’t have a choice. I came to the past to meet you because I had a dream that the real heroes who will save my parents would be you and the friends whom you’ll eventually meet.”

“You’re still avoiding so many questions that I’ve asked you since I was a kid. I’m already eighteen, and I’m old enough to listen and understand Nyx.”

“The only thing that I could tell you about the consequences of my plea… if my parents die before I am born… all of Eos will see its destruction, and I’m not just talking about the Starscourge.”

I opened my eyes in shock to hear his last few words then. “Starscourge? What are you talking about? What do you mean all of Eos will be destroyed if your parents die? I don’t get all this! And another thing, why me?”

Even then, he still eluded all of my questions. Instead, he would reply to me with something else somewhat related to them, but not direct answers. “That’s why I convinced you to aim for Kingsglaive. It’s the only way for you and your friends to save my mom and dad. When the right times come, you’ll see what I mean.”

“Nyx, please… at least, give me some real answers so that I’ll know how to act when the time comes.”

“I’m sorry, Briony. I know I’m eluding you and all, but I also don’t want you and your friends to die before you become heroes!”

One eyebrow raised at his last few words again. “Heroes? What heroes?”

“From where I come from, you and your friends are heroes. To me, you are all my heroes, so… maybe traveling back to this time frame was a mistake, but I don’t know what else to do. I want to be sure that the same people lauded from my time frame really do become heroes. You just happen to be one of those names.”

Even though I found myself completely confused than ever, he immediately changed the subject. “Let’s not talk about me right now. Starting today, your true aim now is your enlisting to the Kingsglaive. I’ll continue helping you shape up to be the perfect candidate, the real deal Glaive, so don’t worry.” 

A week later, the recruiters from the Kingsglaive traveled all the way here from the Crown City to find potential recruits to join their ranks. I remembered not feeling confident in myself when I noticed that many of those interested in enlisting in the Glaives were stockier, taller, and a lot more athletic than I was. Most of the Lestallum-based recruits were males, mainly because most of the females here were all dead set in becoming future EXINERIS technicians and engineers. They rather study the meteor shards than provide any civil service to the king and the rest of the kingdom. I don’t blame them though.

When I got to the booth after waiting in a long line, one of the recruits gazed right at me. The other one, a female blonde with a strict stare right at me began to welcome me, offered and exchanged handshakes, and then the oral interviewing began.

“Alright, Miss Pacem. First of all, tell me more about yourself, your background, just anything.”

“Well, I’m a native-born Lestallian, sad to say I’ve never been outside Lestallum before except for having work trips with my dad and brother to the Meldacio Hunter HQ…”

The other recruiter, a slightly older, balding official, joined in the quick interviewing. “Meldacio HQ? Your father is a hunter?”

“Yes, Sir. My father is one of the senior commanders under David Auburnbrie. My older brother is a hunter too.”

“And your mother?”

“Senior engineer at the EXINERIS power plant. My sister is an intern technician for now.”

“In a way, I could see why you are interested in joining the Glaives, Miss,” the blonde recruiter made her assumption. “You can’t decide between a hunter and a power plant engineer and that you have found a different path.”

I led out a deep sigh and explained myself. “I’m interested in joining the Glaives because civil service for the king and kingdom became my calling. Besides, the daemons are becoming a nuisance to everyone around here, especially in Cleigne and Duscae and now we’re having more problems with the Niffs barging in our territory more often than before. If I had a chance to become a Glaive, one of the things I’d like to do is to bust through these bases and blow them up!” Quickly, I cleared my throat after finding myself going out of control with my disappointment and changed the subject. “Anyway. I think I’m a qualified candidate to be a Glaive. I’ve been trained in various hunter-style self-defense arts by both my father and brother since childhood, but never really messed around with any form of magic.”

“All Glaive recruits were not born or are naturally gifted with magic,” the older recruiter said. “After you submit your application for review, and if you do pass, you will send a letter regarding your physical test. The physical test will also take place here in Lestallum with the senior Glaive officers. After the physical test and review, you will receive another letter about a week later, indicating if you are accepted in the battalion or not. If not, you have the option of waiting six more months for you to try again.”

“With the grave situations that we’re having with the Niffs and daemons even at the outskirts of the Crown City, we would need as many potential Glaives as we can enlist, so we do hope that you do well through the enlisting process,” the blonde Glaive officer said.

I was quite surprised with what I’m hearing from the recruits. My doubts about being judged by my petite stature have disappeared. They actually saw me for who I was and not be judged by the way I look, such as my frailty and my diminutive height. After the quick interview, we shook hands and made my way out. Right behind me were my four other friends.

Aaron and Cecil originally planned to join the Glaives in the first place, just before I made my announcement that I’m interested in joining the Glaives back then. I never really knew what Celestine’s and Lena’s reasons why they decided to join the Glaives. Probably so they can follow Aaron around, just like back in middle school and even in high school. When I got home from the enlisting, I asked Nyx’s evaluation of me, knowing that he was hanging around nearby while I was having my interview.

“You did well, Briony!”

I frowned at Nyx’s compliment. “Dude, I looked like an idiot there.”

“But the Glaives don’t really care. They don’t really care who you are as a person, they care more about what you can do for the Glaives, for the king, for all of Lucis. Your background in self-defense hunter style and your wits from your engineer mom’s genes, you’re going to make it in. I bet you.”

“Well, if you say so, Nyx…”

Eventually, I received a letter a week later informing me that I got accepted to do their physical test. Two weeks after that, I went through my preliminary physical and mental tests. They wanted to be sure that my body was strong and capable enough to handle some powerful magic, which I eventually learned, derives from King Regis himself. That made me a lot more nervous because I never really wanted to mess around with magic, but I couldn’t believe that using magic shared by the king himself is how these Glaives become so elite. The mental test just gave me a series of multiple-choice questions regarding what I know about Lucis, what I know about what’s going on in the kingdom right now, with the war against the Niffs and all. It also asked me to write an opinion essay regarding the impacts of my hometown and my home region by the centuries-old war between Lucis and Niflheim. I wrote everything that I felt and then submitted it to the testers. 

One week after that period of prelims, I received a letter from Insomnia regarding my enlistment to the Kingsglaive. With flying colors, Mom said, I passed the preliminary physical and mental tests. My body and my mind combined were strong and sturdy enough to handle the coveted powers of the Lucian Kings. All new recruits had to move to Insomnia to start our training to become soldiers of the Kingsglaive.

Then, a month later, I packed my bags, joined the other lucky high school grads who got into the Glaives on one try. Aaron, Celestine, Lena, and Cecil did not pass the prelims on the first try, therefore they had to wait six more months to have that chance again. I was sad to leave them, and I felt it was a bit unfair that I got to go while they would have to stay put and wait.

Even at the bus traveling all the way to Insomnia, Nyx sat next to me. I found myself sitting alone in the back row because I wasn’t really much in the mood for chatting and mingling with other Lestallum kids. The little boy in black stared at me and then patting me on the shoulder. I still couldn’t believe how real this kid was and he wasn’t exactly a figment of my messed up imagination. I still don’t have an explanation how a real person from the future can only be seen by one person and not by everyone else.

That night, upon arrival at the Kingsglaive Headquarters not too far from the Citadel, we were given our gear and our keys to our assigned dorms. I got a single bed dorm with no dorm mates. At least I wouldn’t look too weird when I talk to Nyx from everyone else’s eyes. I looked out my window and caught a majestic night view of the Citadel’s united towers.

“The Citadel… wow… I can’t believe that I’m actually here.”

“Yeah,” I heard Nyx whisper behind me. “Whenever I see the Citadel, it really makes me cry.”

“Oh? Is it because it’s the symbol of Insomnia?”

“Um, yeah! That’s what it is. When I see the Citadel, I always longed for home.”

“Maybe when I get on free times, you can show me around Insomnia, and maybe you can show me the place where you currently live too… in your time frame, I mean.”

“I’m afraid… that isn’t going to happen.”

“Huh? How come? I’ve made it this far thanks to you. Why won’t you show me around Insomnia?”

“Because… today.... tonight… is my last day being here with you. I am leaving soon.”

Now that I’m on my own without anyone I know of in this lonely dorm, I cried several tears when he finally declared his farewell. The kid was annoying as hell but he was my only friend with me right now. And now, he was leaving.

“Sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, Briony, but I wanted you to focus on getting into the Kingsglaive all this time and not get distracted by other things, such as me leaving.”

“Nyx… why? I mean, you annoyed the hell out of me big time throughout those years, but you’ve really become my… my very special friend… even though I’m a lot older and somewhat more mature now and you’re still… that age.”

He smiled at me, nodding, and said these words:

“You are now a Kingsglaive soldier, Briony. As a Glaive, sometime in the future, you will be meeting my parents. And when you do, you and the friends you will eventually meet as a Glaive will do all you can to protect and save them. When you do, I’ll return to you, and only this time, all of your friends and loved ones will finally get to see me. Until then…”

“Nyx, I promise. I’ll do my best as a Glaive and risk my life to protect your parents from any harm. That, we’ll promise you.”

“Then, no more crying, Briony. Seriously, you need to get over being too emotional, you know?”

I wiped my tears quickly with a piece of tissue at the side table. “Sorry if I cry a lot, Nyx. Maybe that part of me will never disappear.”

“Glaives don’t cry, not like this anyway. Now, you must look forward, Briony. I’ll be waiting for you years from today.”

“Nyx, don’t go. Not yet. Please…”

I embraced him tightly, still with the unending tears from my eyes. Slowly and gradually, he faded like thin air and disappeared right into my arms. Still, he was right. No more crying and look forward to tomorrow and beyond.

Two weeks after I started my training, I was already assigned to two mentors. One of them, originally from Galahd, just happened to be one of the Kingsglaive’s most respected and revered soldier that earned him the nickname of “hero.” Coincidentally, his name was Ulric. First name, Nyx.

Thinking about little Nyx, I thought that Nyx Ulric must be his father. During my physical mentorship with him and his best friend, Libertus Ostium, I even teased to see if Nyx Ulric had a girlfriend, but he spoiled it when he revealed that he had none, because he prioritizes his duties as a Glaive and serving the current king, King Regis, and all of Lucis was his priority. He even instilled in me that as a true Glaive, I should also have the same priorities as he does and not let any form of emotional connections with others get in the way. I can tell right away that Nyx Ulric has a sense of responsibility and that he aims to serve King Regis and all of Lucis as part of his and Libertus’ fight to liberate their home province of Galahd from the Niffs.

Four years as a Glaive, fulfilling all of my assignments, missions, and battles, little by little, I began to lose the memory of little Nyx, as if he really left me on purpose for good. I mean, he already left from my eyes then, but lately, I was beginning to feel less of his presence and my mind was becoming blurry that even I’m forgetting the image of that black-clad, black-haired, blue-eyed kid. Next thing I knew, many moments and missions later, little Nyx ceased to exist in my life.

If only little Nyx would tell me who his parents were. I was so sure then that Nyx Ulric may possibly be little Nyx’s father because he also had dark hair and blue eyes and was also black-clad. Then again, all Glaives are black-clad anyway. Even I was also getting used to wearing a lot of black too, mainly my Glaive uniform. If it wasn’t my training mentor and eventual squad leader, then who were little Nyx’s mom and dad?

I no longer feel little Nyx’s spirit lingering around me. However, deep within my heart, I will wait until little Nyx returns to my life once again. I didn’t know what was coming in my future, and I never really knew who these friends little Nyx was mentioning to me about.

Even as of this writing, I’m still waiting for little Nyx to appear in my life again. Maybe some stranger, a couple, would just come up to me and recognize me, and then they’ll introduce themselves as Nyx’s parents.

So far, that hasn’t happened yet. He still has yet to show up.


	2. The Cosmogony Notebooks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mysterious and desperate elderly donor arrived at the Lestallum Public Library to donate a very valuable artifact that may help Ignis, Talcott, and Briony with their revising of the next edition of the Cosmogony. One of the notebooks contained different tall tales from all regions of Lucis about a possible homecoming of the King of Kings right after the Starscourge. Meanwhile, the archives team's supervisor, an Altissian archivist named Ovid Smithers, insisted that they break into the Citadel first thing in the morning through the infamous Crestholm Channels sewage system.

_The Public Library of Lucis - Cleigne Branch_  
_Lestallum, Province of Cleigne_  
_Kingdom of Lucis_  
_M.E. 771 (5 years after the end of the Starscourge)_

 _ **Briony Pacem** \- 39, archivist at the Lestallum Public Library, former Kingsglaive_  
_**Talcott Hester** \- 22, University of Lucis graduate student, intern at the Lestallum Public Library, former Hunter_  
_**Ignis Scientia** \- 37, archives adviser at the Lestallum Public Library, former Kingsglaive, former Crownsguard_  
_**Prompto Argentum** \- 35, freelance photographer, Meteor Magazine photojournalist, former Kingsglaive, former Crownsguard_  
_**Gladiolus Amicitia** \- 38, current Kingsglaive officer, Crownsguard interim officer_

In today’s early morning news, the civil unrest continues in the Crown City. Reports of looting local businesses in the downtown areas, innocent bystanders being victims of different people from these different factions just because they refused to get involved, and other types of atrocities have spread throughout the neighborhoods close to the Citadel. This time, demands from these same factions called out that the Crownsguard should open the Citadel to the public. But if you ask me, it’s more like they’re demanding for the Crownsguard to open the Citadel, not necessarily for the public, but specifically for them.

The still-current marshal of the Crownsguard (or rather the small remains), Cor Leonis, as well as his two close Crownsguard comrades in Monica Elshett and Dustin Ackers, have been leading the matters regarding the Citadel and keeping an eye on things throughout that part of the Crown City, providing some form of authority to keep the peace and order. Their interim Citadel Recovery Infantry consists of both Glaives, Hunters, and remaining Crownsguard who survived, knowing that the majority of the Crownsguard lost their lives during the day Insomnia fell fifteen years ago. Ever since the end of the Starscourge, with the insistence of the royal retinue, the Citadel was locked and shut down, not allowing the public to enter, not even for a tour or a visit, just to pay respects to the one True King who have given his life to release us from the Long Night.

Sitting behind my office desk while watching TV at the corner of the ceiling across from me, I nibbled on my Pistachio Honey toast my mother made for me this morning and sipped on my favorite cup of Ebony coffee. Sometimes I wondered if my true love for my post-Glaive life was the history and documentation of the past events or the messy politics that had been happening in Insomnia ever since the Crownsguard bore the authority to take control of the Citadel. The reconstruction period of Lucis and all of Eos had been overseen by the big three, so we Glaives called them: the marshal of Crownsguard, my former other mentor Libertus Ostium the interim captain of the Kingsglaive, and the head honcho hunter himself, Dave Auburnbrie. These factions have been on war of debates and verbal exchanges, instilling their beliefs on how Lucis and the Citadel should be run, now that the Lucis Caelum line and the Lucian monarchy is no more. However, all of these factions are also have been at war against the Crownsguard, Kingsglaive, and Hunters altogether.

Ever since the final day of the Starscourge and light had been restored, as a Glaive then, I felt that my duties were incomplete. I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Libertus, the True King’s own retinue in Ignis Scientia, Gladiolus Amicitia, and Prompto Argentum, and all the others who contributed also did not feel that their duties were completed. The Starscourge did not bring peace and prosperity among our people throughout Eos. It only brought back the light and eradicated all the daemons for good. Sadly, the end of the Starscourge did not rid of human greed and egoism.

The TV news finally brought up a new story. The second volume of the Hunters’ compilation of stories and memoirs from a select number of people throughout Eos, namely Lucians, had been released in bookstores and book kiosks throughout the world, with Lucis being the first, of course. I already pre- ordered my copy a month before, and received the book yesterday afternoon. When I began reading it, I skipped my imaginary friend story and read the stories and memoirs of others instead. Maybe one day, the hunters who compiled all these stories in their anthology series would hold a reunion event, where all the people interviewed for the book will gather together and just mingle with each other.

I have been an archivist for the Lestallum Public Library (Long, more formal name: The Public Library of Lucis - Cleigne Branch, but locals and everyone else prefer calling it the Lestallum Library or the Lestallum Public Library) for some three years now. I started off my first six months as an associate of a senior archivist, a middle-aged man in his mid-50s named Ovid Smithers. He was originally from Altissia as a historian in their royal library there, but had to move to Lestallum when Eos was being overtaken by daemons. About a year after I paid my contributions to the reconstruction of Eos by working alongside my mom, my sister Tamzin, and all my fellow ladies at the EXINERIS power plant in providing electricity through the rest of Lucis (namely Insomnia and Galahd), I finally got hired as an archivist. My almost fifteen years of being a Glaive was the only requirement that Mr. Smithers’ interest peaked, thinking I may have known more about the Lucian lore itself from personal experiences. Funny thing was, he did not look at me as a former soldier, but some clerical officer who worked with the paperwork for the Glaives. I advised him several times that all Glaives were required to be out in the battlefield, one way or the other, regardless of their primary assigned roles. He never saw me as the type to kill, but I had a long, extensive background of killing and murdering from daemons to MTs to enemy humans, namely Niff high officials.

About a year later, one of my former training partners within the Glaives ten years ago, a young, dashing, handsome, but brutally blinded former Crownsguard turned Glaive named Ignis Scientia, also sought employment at the Lestallum Library. I was quite surprised that he decided to settle here in Lestallum instead of going back home to the Crown City. He did not feel at peace by returning back home to the Crown City, he once mentioned to a number of us. He started getting used to staying in Lestallum, in and out, for the last ten years or so, plus he hoped that he would find his peace by living here. Many of the former Crown City folks also started living here permanently.

His two other friends and comrades, Gladiolus Amicitia and Prompto Argentum, also moved forward with their own paths. Gladio tried to continue to carry on the family tradition by being a vice marshal under Cor, even though he also elevated to a Glaive along with Ignis and Prompto. Gladio also married his fiancee a year after the Starscourge and recently, his wife gave birth to a daughter. His younger sister, Iris Amicitia, still works as a hunter and is one of the sub commanders of the Hunters now, reporting directly to Dave Auburnbrie and working alongside my father and my brother, both senior-ranked hunters. While Gladio and his family are currently living in the Crown City, Iris remained here in Lestallum. She said that moving back to the Crown City would only bring her so much pain, especially that she recently revealed to a few of us that she had been harboring feelings for our King of Kings since she was a little girl. Poor girl, I thought. The only thing I could say to her was to look forward, move on, and someone special will arrive in her life. Still, she remained single, but she was a lot different from the first time I met her. We all mature as we get older, after all.

Prompto, on the other hand, found employment at the newly re-established Meteor Publishing as a photojournalist, while also doing some freelance photography on his own. He also worked with the hunters in collecting and compiling interviews, memoirs, and stories for their ongoing anthology series, taking individual portraits of every individual being interviewed. He also started having photography exhibits for the public, but so far, his exhibits only took place in Lestallum. Like Ignis and Iris, he too did not want to return to the Crown City, even though he learned that his adopted parents were still alive and well and temporarily lived in Altissia after escaping Insomnia during the downfall. I didn’t have to mention why. He shares an apartment with Ignis and old man Cid Sophiar and lives two doors away from my family apartment. Old Cid’s granddaughter, the very pretty and smart Cindy Aurum, moved back to Hammerhead and became its new owner and manager. Every weekends, she would come and visit her Paw-Paw, as well as her old friends, like her mentor, best friend, and senior chairman of EXINERIS, Holly Teulle.

I laugh whenever I’d witness Prompto going on and on about getting himself ready and finding the right time to do all he can to win Cindy’s heart. It wasn’t much of a secret regarding his unrequited feelings for her. Even his bros and everyone else he met knew of his feelings for Cindy. Even the Chosen King himself used to tease him but also encouraged him to be brave, be himself, and be the one to get Cindy’s attention in his own charming way. It’s been five years since the end of Starscourge, and regardless of the mess that’s going on in Insomnia right now, very soon, Prompto would have to step up and move. Or else, someone else may catch her eye instead.

My imaginary friend story was the second story in the newest volume of the anthology. When Prompto was taking my official portrait for the book months ago, he began asking questions about my imaginary friend. He told me that my description of little Nyx reminded him a lot of his childhood best friend, the Chosen King of Kings himself. I was thinking twice that maybe little Nyx was actually the late King Noctis Lucis Caelum CXIV, but after my brief meeting with him on the day… or night… that he awakened from his ten-year slumber at Angelgard, that possibility became impossible. He admitted to me and Libertus during our brief meeting with him back at Angelgard that the only Nyx person he knew in his life was Nyx Ulric, the same hero Glaive who drove him back and forth from the Citadel to his apartment a few days before that dreaded peace treaty signing with the Niffs.

From then on, the facts played in my mind. Little Nyx was not Nyx Ulric. Little Nyx was not King Noctis. Little Nyx had no relations to both Nyx Ulric and King Noctis. Who was Little Nyx then? Maybe Dad was right all this time. Maybe he really was just a figment of my strange imagination.

Not too long ago, Talcott Hester, former hunter now a graduate student from the Lestallum branch of the University of Lucis, joined us as an intern. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in History, and now he is working on his work-in-progress thesis about the Cosmogony for his Masters in Lucian Culture and Society. He is currently sharing an apartment with Iris, as she pretty much became his guardian ever since his grandfather was murdered by that bastard Niff general Caligo some fifteen years ago. I remembered seeing his ugly face during my time as an intel Glaive back at Tenebrae some seventeen or eighteen years ago. Arrogant, heartless bastard.

Right now, Mr. Smithers, Ignis, Talcott, and I are working on a huge project officially launched by the Insomnia main branch of the Public Library of Lucis system. Because the Starscourge has been long eradicated, we are now rewriting the Cosmogony and have it published on a new edition. After all, the Starscourge prophecy mentioned in the past Cosmogony edition did happen, so for future generations post-Starscourge, it was best to read the latest edition of the Cosmogony and learn some lessons from it.

I continued to watch the TV news, while I was supposed to read through the Cosmogony and take comparison notes. At that point, I heard the door knocking on my office door. I called out that the door was open.

Talcott Hester appeared at the door. “Morning, Briony. Sorry I’m late.”

“Late? Nah, look at me. I’m distracted by what’s happening in the TV news when I’m supposed to be reading and taking notes.”

The young graduate student entered with his backpack, sitting down at the office table while taking out his laptop and a few of some books and papers. “Anything new on the news?”

“Not really. Same ol’, same ol’.”

Talcott sighed, shaking his head with his arms crossed. “What the hell is going on in the Crown City? I hope the Marshal, Libertus, and Dave are alright out there. I feel bad for the Crownsguard, Glaives, and Hunters who have been protecting the Citadel from intruders and looters, and now these factions are declaring war against them.”

“The end of the Starscourge may have brought back the light, but it did not bring back peace and prosperity among us. Five years since the end of the Starscourge, even though I retired from being a Glaive, I still feel incomplete.”

“If only King Noctis were here now and…” Just as Talcott was about to say his own statement, he trailed off and fell silent. “Um… never mind. You already know what I’m going to say.”

“No worries, Talcott. I know what you’re going to say.”

I found myself slouching on my chair and slowly got up. I then noticed that Talcott arrived alone. “Hey, Ignis wasn’t with you?”

“Prompto arrived early, so Ignis was just helping him out with his stuff. He’ll be here late.”

“Still working, that Ignis,” I sighed. “Sometimes, he needs to chill out and rest, sometimes.”

“There are a lot in his mind, even till today, Briony, so I don’t blame him. He, Gladio, Prompto, Iris, everyone who fought in the name of our king during those ten years felt the same as you. I also feel the same way as you, as a former hunter myself.”

“Incomplete.”

Talcott then reached out for his new copy of the second volume of Real Starscourge Tales from Real, Everyday Lucians anthology. He already had a bookmark on the first few pages. I assumed that he bookmarked my imaginary friend story in the book and wanted to discuss with it.

“You got some interesting story included in the anthology, Briony,” Talcott led out a chuckle. “A little kid named Nyx, huh? Don’t mind me, but I remember Prompto saying one time that the kid you described sounded a lot like King Noctis when he was that age. It was when he was taking your portrait photo for the anthology book.”

“Was King Noctis a snot-nosed little brat who likes to insults people at random whenever he found the right time?” I crossed my arms and smirked at the thought, after remembering Prompto’s comparison of my mischievious imaginary friend to the Chosen King. Really scary.

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Talcott shrugged. “Ignis should know more about him as a kid than Prompto would. But, when I got to know the king better those years ago, he was more of a big bro to me than someone I would have to look up and bow to before I’m even allowed to speak to anyone of Royalty. Yeah… King Noctis was, as he said before one time, really chill like that.”

“Chill, huh? Right,” I muttered. Even though Ignis had been blind for over ten years now and has been considering going through special treatment to get his eyesight back, he still remained blind and walked around with his walking stick. And even though Ignis had been blind all this time, I still couldn’t get the nerve to speak to him one-on-one. After all, looking back during my innocent Glaive days, when Celestine, Lena, and I met the four guys at random at a new coffee shop at Insomnia those fifteen years ago, Ignis was the only one who caught my eye. The other two girls were crushing on Gladio, but were also keeping an eye on that other awkward-looking kid hanging out with Prompto. Ugh, what was his name again? Maybe there were still some memories that I still need to recover. Oh boy.

“Anyway, both Ignis and Prompto are gonna arrive here a bit later, once Prompto’s already settled in the apartment. Gladio and his family will be arriving later today to visit Iris. The marshal gave him a day off as things were getting a lot more dangerous in the Crown City with all of these civil factions at war with each other that it’s not safe for a family with a young child to be there. At least, we’ll be having a little reunion right after, you know?”

“Sounds great,” I smiled happily. “Can’t wait to meet Gladio’s wife and their little baby.”

“Proud dad that he is,” Talcott laughed. “And Iris is being a proud auntie too.”

“And you, a proud uncle,” I nodded.

“I don’t know about that, but maybe,” Talcott nervously laughed at the thought. “Iris might come home late tonight. She has to go through a lot of rounds from small town to small town throughout Cleigne to do some errands for the people and immigrants there. Ravatogh has been booming so far, you know? We should take a vacation and visit the new Ravatogh town, Briony.”

“Yeah, let’s do that,” I nodded with a grin. “Maybe we can have some hiking picnics at the Rock of Ravatogh too.”

“We gotta let Iris and the hunters know about that. They always reminded the public to never go there without any official hunter escort.”

“Dude, you’re a hunter, or at least you used to be. But still, you count,” I laughed.

“True, and you’re a Glaive, retired or not. Wait, why are we worrying about daemons over there when the end of Starscourge finally got rid of them?”

“Not daemons. Local wildlife.”

“Ah. You’re right.”

Once Talcott settled down with his things on the mini-table, he got up from his seat and making his way to the door. “I’ll be at the restroom really quick. I’ll be back.”

I waved at the young graduate student. “No problem. See you later.”

Just as Talcott made his exit to the restroom, the TV news continued on reporting the various incidents of violence on almost very corner of Insomnia. It was like the anarchy continued right after the daemons infested it. I reached for the window and opened it to let the sunshine and the morning breeze inside. When I opened, I looked downstairs to see the same band of buskers playing their new song at the street corner across from the library. When the TV news continued on at the back, I listened to the new song that this street corner band performed, with the usual folk stopping by or dropping a few donations so that they can continue on entertaining the familiar Lestallum morning.

Time is on my side, yes it is  
Time is on my side, yes it is  
Our hopes may be gone, but we won’t give in  
Cause we all know  
That one special day  
You will be coming back, right back home

Interesting lyrics, I thought. Sadly, I had to head back to reality and get back to work. I walked back to the desk and looked at my notes and do more comparisons with the current edition of the Cosmogony and a few of its previous editions when the TV news shifted its focus to the factions warring with each other and against the combined forces of the Crownsguard, Kingsglaive, and Hunters for entry into the coveted Citadel. There were three mentioned that I didn’t really much pay attention too.

The first one they introduced called themselves Rem Publicam ex Lux et Tenebrae, The Republic of Light and Darkness. They were dubbed by the public as the Republican faction, or simply the Republic. Don’t let the name fool you, they have nothing to do with the newly-liberated state of Tenebrae, the home of the former Oracle, Lady Lunafreya Nox Fleuret. The faction was formed by former staff of one or two of the high council delegates who perished at the bogus treaty signing day who believed that a republic, not monarchy, can make Lucis a lot stronger and more stable among people and government. Their faction leader was the former secretary of one of the high delegates, an almost middle-aged man named Odina Philo. Cor may know him from the past if he were really a staff member of one of the high delegates, but we haven’t heard anything mentioned just yet. The Republic’s beliefs are that the monarchy may act as a symbol of true Lucian tradition, but this republic, run by a president or a prime minister, would be the running the government itself. Their reasons for their demands to have the Citadel reopened was to find a new station for them to form the new government. Cor, Libertus, and Dave have very valid reasons why they wouldn’t allow anyone inside the Citadel, but one should always stand out as the prior reason.

The last two kings of the Kingdom of Lucis were killed right inside their own throne room at the Citadel. Because of that, the throne room itself became a sacred chamber, some say it became a cursed chamber for possible future royalty, that no mortal should even dare enter. Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto also requested to keep those doors to the throne room closed and shut forever, never to be opened again. According to the three, when King Noctis made his farewell to them and entered the throne room alone to finally face the usurper, the doors to the throne room were closed shut, never to be opened again. Ignis proposed to both Gladio and Prompto then, right when the Long Night finally ended, that it was just way too painful for them to get inside the throne room and retrieve the body of their beloved friend. Even Prompto couldn’t even look at the eyes of his childhood best friend, especially with him no longer alive. Gladio gave in to his friends’ reasonings and mentioned that rather than opening the doors to the throne room, that it was better to leave it as is and revere it as some kind of a holy homage to centuries long line of the Lucis Caelum monarchs.

Hearing this from their voices truly gave many of us so much pain in our hearts. I remembered Talcott bursting into tears after hearing the news as a teenager, Iris breaking down as if she lost her lover, and all of the familiar faces we’ve seen, like Cindy, Old Man Cid, Cor, Dustin, Monica, even the surviving Glaives like Libertus and myself who still remained loyal to the Lucis Caelum monarchy and never turned their backs on them couldn’t stop shedding our own tears. As Glaives trying to seek redemption of our fallen comrades who may have made many mistakes and sins in the past, especially the sin of treason and siding with the Niffs, by facing against Bahamut and proved our worth, we all felt that our calling was nothing more than a waste of time. How can we be fighting in the name of the Chosen King when that said King will be the one to die? Even with the king’s own retinue, who also became Glaives themselves ten years later, we all felt sadness, pain, and most of all, failure.

In short, we failed. We failed to do our duties to protect our king. The king may have succeeded in eradicating the Starscourge, but not the way we expected. Not like that. There had to be other ways of ending it, I was sure of it. Even Ignis, who is usually the calm one among the three, also believed the same. Some Glaives and random people we’ve met reminded us that the past was the past and that we must look onward for a more positive light for our future. However, if you happen to be someone who got to know and have gotten close to the Chosen King, even if it was just for a few hours or even a day, it may take a very long time for us to get over it. Most especially with all the ridiculous chaos that’s going on with these factions here and there trying to take over Lucis by seating themselves inside the Citadel. For those who joined these factions for a better future for Lucis, they’re kidding themselves. Dishonoring the Citadel like that isn’t just an insult to us who became close one way or the other to the Lucis Caelums, but it was also the insult to the entire Kingdom of Lucis.

The second faction dubs themselves as Imperium Novum Lumen, The New Empire of Light. The public refused to call them as the empire because the first thing that would come in their mind are the Niffs, but instead, they jokingly dubbed them as the Imps. These are the ones who still want to continue the Lucian monarchy, but under the name of a new line. Not only that they want to restore the Lucian monarchy, but they also proposed to be the new world order like the former Niflheim, considering that the nation of Niflheim pretty much crumbled down by the ongoing daemon infestation, the Tenebraen monarchy also ended when both the Oracle and her older brother, Ravus Nox Fleuret, both killed by the same murderer, they thought that with this new monarchy line, that they will not restore order throughout Lucis, but also place order under their name throughout the entire Eos. If you think the Republic was crazy, these Imps are simply out of their minds. They forget that one law, according to the Cosmogony, must never be broken, or face judgment and punishment from the Six. The Six only have the right to choose the next king and will begin a brand-new royal family representing Lucis, but from the looks of it, there were no signs of that happening. The Imps couldn’t help themselves but show impatience, defy the Six, and then declare themselves as the new monarchs of Lucis, and eventually, all of Eos. The Imps are lead by some aging guy who declared himself a member of a Lucian noble family, just like House Amicitia, in which Gladio and Iris belong to. His name is Peregrin Solace, the head of House Solace, and that he was a former mayor of Insomnia who also works along with the high council and with the monarchy. Gladio mentioned at one point that his father, the late high council delegate Clarus Amicitia, didn’t really like the guy that much because he doesn’t trust anybody who try to suck up to the king or even any of the members of the high council. Sounds fishy.

What kind of moron who would want to support a faction that’s basically copying the former enemy without even doing their own research or even learn from the mistakes of the past? No way in hell that the Big Three are going to even give their times of day with these bozos. A Lucian Empire, yeah right. No thank you.

The last faction, in my opinion, is probably the most insane than the two. While the other two were leaning more towards the philosophies of Lucian politics, this particular faction leans more to a creepy version of a religious cult. They refer themselves as Nox et Luna Unitatem, the Union of Night and Moon. When we read about them in the newspaper, the guys thought Prompto made the story up as a joke to lighten us up, but much to our shock, there really was such thing. What creeped us out with this faction is that, just like Lucian Royalty, they all wore black. That is, black robes, black veils, black cloaks, black suits, and they always carry white sashes with the emblem of a circle-shaped black night with the white moon and white stars on them. Whenever you see these people flock together, you’d think there was a funeral procession that was about to happen, and that they wished to have their dead blessed by displaying their bodies inside the Citadel. The latter may be a joke, but this cult really just appalled those who had the pleasure of meeting both King Noctis and the Oracle back in the day. Why? They have this really crazy belief that, even though the Cosmogony didn’t exactly indicate that both the Chosen King and the Oracle have ascended together in the heavens after the eradication of the Starscourge, these people believed otherwise. They believed that both King Noctis and Lady Lunafreya have ascended together, not just in marriage, but to join the ranks of the Six and became gods themselves, more powerful together than the powers of Six and even the ancient kings of yore combined.

Creepy stuff, I tell you.

So, in short, these cultists worship King Noctis and Lady Lunafreya as gods. They believe that the perfect place where they will show their worship and appreciation of their gods is none other than the Citadel. They also wished authority over the new Lucian government, for there is no other human being who can become the new king or queen than that of their god, King Noctis. Their reasoning against the Big Three to have the Citadel opened so that they can convert it into a temple, build their own worship ground within the throne room, convert the entire world into believers, and become the seat of the new religious-affiliated Lucian government. A Lucis ruled by some clergy of wackos. That’s even creepier than a Lucian empire or a Lucian republic.

The locals and the rest of the normal Lucians dubbed these crazies as simply the cult. We all love and respect King Noctis and Lady Lunafreya back in the days, but not like this. According to the guys, especially with Ignis, the king would not want to be remembered this way, but he wanted to be honored like the way we would honor our local heroes, like our Glaive hero Nyx Ulric, for example. Even I as a Glaive had a chance to meet, shake hands, and speak with King Noctis before he traveled back to Galdin Quay those years ago. He may have the aura of the true king, but he spoke like a fellow Lucian brother, like the way I would talk to my old friends, Aaron and Cecil. We were not just King and Glaive, we were both children of Lucis, sharing one blood. I felt that King Noctis was more of a sibling than the king that I have to pledge my allegiance and obedience to.

Cor, Libertus, and Dave warned us and a lot of the public to keep an eye out of this cult. These guys are more fanatical than the Imps, who want to create their own version of a Lucian Empire with a dead king and his dead queen consort as the spiritual rulers of this so-called new empire. The Republic may be the sanest of the three, but if you ask us Lestallians and non-Crown City Lucians? We don’t trust any one of these three. The Republic and the Imps assured that our own beliefs as individual Lucians are that of our own, and that we have the right to choose whatever path we may take. But this fanatic cult insist that we should not follow any other king but that of King Noctis and his beloved Queen Lunafreya.

Their cult leader’s name was Aleron Vertumnus, also known to the cultists as Father Aleron. According to the Lucian citizen records, this Aleron Vertumnus guy was a Lucian historian who was born and raised in Tenebrae, and had attended a university here in Insomnia. It was from there that he became fascinated with the history of Lucis and its strong connections to the gods as mentioned in the Cosmogony. He got so obsessed with the Cosmogony and whatever ancient records he could find throughout Insomnia that he started to have these delusional beliefs that the Lucis Caelum line may not just be a line of kings blessed by the gods, but they may also possess blood and genes of the pure gods themselves. According to him, it was the purpose of the True King to truly rule all of Eos, starting with his home of Lucis, and that he, along with his queen Lunafreya, will ascend together up the heavens and rule over the world, and that he believed that he was chosen and blessed by the spirits of both that he must spread their wisdom and philosophy to the public so that they may live pure and fulfilling daily lives. Prompto joked that if this belief was true, then one godly law that all believers must follow was that vegetable consumption is forbidden. However, just hearing about this cult did not suit Ignis very well.

I found my head about to explode with all the news about these three deranged factions and their equally deranged faction leaders. Just who the hell do these guys think they are, storming around the Crown City and demanding for the gates to the Citadel be opened? That is why I feel bad for retiring from the Glaives sometimes, seeing Libertus, Cor, and Dave struggle to get all their troops and hunters to maintain order while protecting the Citadel all at once. However, I became fascinated with the work that Ignis and Talcott began with the ancient records regarding Lucis and the rest of Eos that I decided to join them. Well, a very minor reason why I joined was to get a little closer to the handsome blind man himself, but I will not delve deeper to that.

I heard the door knock on my office door. I looked through the window to see one of the librarians, the mocha-skinned, delicate-faced young lady in her late twenties named Temperance March, waving right at me. I signaled her that the door is open. She opened the door and greeted me with her usual smile.

“You look worn out, Briony,” Tempie, as the entire library staff called her, smiled. “Bad morning?”

“Nah,” I shook my head. “More faction crap on the TV news.”

Tempie gazed at the TV and shook her head. “I don’t even remember how long this has been going on. Two years now? Whatever happened with restoring peace and prosperity among the nations of Eos?”

“All of a sudden, people of random beliefs now want to take over the world because the Niffs can’t take it over anymore.”

“I swear,” Tempie sighed, shaking her head. “Sometimes life was a lot easier and more peaceful with the daemons around than having these damn fools hanging around the Citadel. Then again, I was around thirteen or fourteen when Insomnia fell. Never really had a chance to visit the Crown City. Man, the City of Dreams, the City that never sleeps… I’ll never get to see it ever, not with those creeps killing each other to see who gets to take over Lucis, seriously. I wanted to join the Glaives too.”

“If only our Chosen King still remained alive today, you could’ve been a Glaive yourself too, Tempie,” I cheered her up a bit.

“But that’s the thing. No king, no adventurous life as a Glaive for me. No fair.” The dark-skinned young lady pouted. Seconds later, she changed her tone. “By the way, Briony, I came by because you got a visitor outside looking for you.”

I raised my eyebrow in suspicion. “Hm, I don’t have any scheduled appointments with people today except for the usual people.”

“Well, Talcott is talking to this old man at the moment. Said he’s got something to donate to the library but he wanted to see you about them first.”

“Hm, I wonder what he’s going to donate?”

“Apparently, a bunch of old notebooks, he said. But never really asked what was in them. Said it was top secret or something.”

“Right, right.” I leaned back on my desk chair, sighing. “Send him in.”

“Good luck, Briony.”

“Thanks, Tempie.” Tempie waved again and approached the lobby. I stared out the window to watch Tempie approaching both Talcott and the old man. From the gestures, I could see Talcott insisting to Tempie that he will escort the man himself. I quickly turned my head away from the window and pretended to go back to my notes.

I shook my head after skimming through a few passages throughout the Cosmogony chapters. “Man, oh man. I swear, a lot of these passages seemed so cryptic. This is a modern age where everyone wants direct answers instead of them figuring out answers to a bunch of badly-written riddles. Plus, even this modern version of the Cosmogony seems so incomplete. Everything here is incomplete!”

By the time I led out a sigh, I sat back on my seat, trying to clear my head from all these inconsistencies and missing answers not indicated in the previous and current revised editions of the Cosmogony. I prayed that this elderly donor would donate something fascinating and that has nothing to do with this horrendous holy book. I remembered dreading Lucian history as one of my least favorite subjects back in school, but thanks to my imaginary friend little Nyx, I started picking up the Cosmogony during middle school. I used to worship the book and I used to believe in everything that was said there. However, some of my views towards the book changed when I became a Glaive and eventually sent out to enemy territory in Tenebrae, and learned that there were a lot more to this world than what was written in the Cosmogony. From there, that’s when my curiosity peaked, and even after fifteen years, I finally got a job suitable for this field that did not involve any violence or committing acts of war against another life… or a man-made being, thanks to those pesky Niff MTs.

I heard the door knocking. That must be Talcott and the guest donor. I waved to the door and signaled that it’s open. Talcott opened the door, letting himself and the elderly donor enter, with the student intern closing the door behind him. The donor looked about in his late 80s or 90s, slightly hunched back, only supporting himself with a cane. He was balding, wearing small specs, and with a mix of dark and olive complexion. Judging from the way he spoke, he was obviously Lucian, but none of us can determine what part of Lucis this man originated from.

“Welcome to the Lestallum Public Library, Sir. Please, come in.” I invited the elderly visitor to his seat, with Talcott slowly helping him get there.

The donor sat down at one of the seats facing me, with Talcott sitting on the other seat across from the donor. “Thank you for giving me some time to speak with you.”

Before I began, I asked the donor quickly. “Is this a private matter about what you’re about to donate? Don’t worry about Mr. Hester here, he’s an intern working for me.”

“Yes, alright.” The old man nodded and reached for his black briefcase. Opening it slowly, he revealed out a box with a rope tied around it. There was a note on top that was handwritten in faded ink: Cosmogony Drafts - collected and compiled. Please store in a safe place and pass it on to the most trusted.

“I am the last descendant of a family of publishers for the Lucian Throne, Miss,” the old man began, pushing the box directly right at me. “Five years and this world hasn’t received the peace, prosperity, and happiness it deserved. The Starscourge may be gone but the gods still continue to curse us for our sins.”

I gave a frown while staring at the faded note. “Sir, you are donating this to the library?”

The old man nodded. “Please, open it, Miss…”

“Pacem. Briony Pacem.”

“Ah, yes. Of course. I was told that you and a few of your library colleagues here are participating in the upcoming publication of the newest edition of the Cosmogony, now that the Starscourge has finally ended.”

I cleared my throat to keep myself from getting nervous. Normally, the senior archivist, Ovid Smithers, would be dealing with these types of matters. However, he is currently on a week-long trip to Insomnia to attend some conventions at the Insomnia Library that he placed me in charge. My initial thought was to ask the donor to return in two days, knowing Mr. Smithers will be back here. However, when I mentioned that, the old man shook his head.

“The voices have spoken to me in my dream. It has to be you and your colleagues.”

Somehow, this situation seemed so familiar to me. I never really asked to be the go-to person of anything, and yet, here I am again. “Sir, voices?”

“Yes. Voices… of the spirits of my ancestors.” Once again, he pushed the box closer to my direction. Talcott stared at me with concern in his eyes.

“Briony, just take a look at it. I feel like the donor has his own reasons why he’s turning to you instead of waiting for Mr. Smithers to return.”

“Fine. Alright.” I placed my fingers on the tied rope and slowly untied it, still staring at the faded handwriting on the top of the box. “I’ve read Cosmogony Drafts on the note. What does this mean, Sir?”

“I have waited too long for this moment, and it was a mistake,” the old man sighed. “I should have done this several years ago, but travels to Insomnia had been too dangerous in those days. I originally wanted to pass this on to our late great King Regis, or even his even greater son in King Noctis, but I was too afraid of the daemons on the way.”

I don’t really blame him. Most civilians back in those years were afraid of leaving home, not even to visit some of their favorite distant places, because of all these daemons skulking around here and there were not making our streets safe. The prominent presence of the Niffs and their MTs only made things worse for all Lucian citizens.

“It’s not your fault, Sir. Everyone was scared unless they had some proper escort from the hunters. I’ve seen way too many who suffered back in my days.” And I was not joking when I mentioned. I have seen way too many incidents regarding humanity and the daemons, all the way from Tenebrae till here.

We both sighed, trying not to think about the past. My eyes returned to the package again, this time with my fingers ready to remove the ribbon. At the same time, I could see the tension appearing on his expression, which made me a lot curious about the donor. I couldn’t say that he was ill, but just to make sure.

“Are you alright, Sir? Would you like some water?”

The donor quickly shook his head. “No, Miss. I’m alright. I’m just… well… nervous.”

“Nervous? About what?”

He closed his eyes. “Others… there are others… who are after these manuscripts…”

“Others? Who?”

“Just promise me, please, keep these notebooks safe. No other outside party should get their hands on them, I beg of you.”

I hushed the donor while staring at the office window, making sure that his voice wasn’t loud enough for anyone outside to hear. “Sir, please calm down. I… I’m not going to ask why you seem so desperate in handing these notebooks to us, but please, calm down.”

After a few minutes, the old man caught up with his breath. He seemed to be healthy for his age. It wasn’t like he was suffering from some respiratory disease such as asthma or lung cancer, however, his constant sweating and his shivering were worrying me. He might get a heart attack right inside my office. Once he finally calmed down, I opened my notebook, ready to take notes about the donor hismelf.

“Sir, I didn’t get your name, so that I can give you the proper credit for this donation, once we get the new edition of the Cosmogony published.”

The elderly man shook his head. “Who I am is not important. However, I am donating this very piece of history that has been kept within my family for centuries. I believe that maybe the words handwritten in there may help Lucis find the solution on what our nation will become after the Starscourge. Please, open it.”

I didn’t ask any more questions and I began to untie the ribbon rip open the paper bag that wrapped the box. Out revealed a wooden box, perfectly sealed with a complicated-looking lock. The elderly man proceeded to remove the lock by entering a certain combination number, which I decided not to look. Out came a stack of three leather-bound and faded in time notebooks, sepia-toned high quality paper that still lasted all this time, and the ink used to write on it was still quite legible.

“These are the original manuscripts to the first edition of the Cosmogony. Very well-preseved, I must say.”

Talcott proceeded to take one of the notebooks, while I stared at the second and third. What a donation, I thought. This can truly help us write the most complete latest edition of the Cosmogony post- Starscourge. Because these are original manuscripts, there was bound to be some details there that were not included in the published versions of the Cosmogony. There had to be.

“No way,” Talcott whispered after opening the first notebook and skimming through the first two pages. “Briony, this is the real deal. The words written here are exactly the same as the published editions, just judging from the first few pages. There are also liner notes and dates too. Two thousand-something years ago!”

I gazed up at the donor. “How on earth were you able to get a hold of these notebooks, Sir?”

“My father’s side of the family comes from a line of book publishers, all the way from the founding of Lucis,” the old man answered. “I am the last in line, and because I can see that my time is very close to its end, it was time for me to hand over these manuscripts to the most trusted ones who can keep and preserve this for many more generations to come.”

“That’s just amazing,” Talcott gasped. “So, your line published the very first edition of the Cosmogony those 2000 years ago?”

“My ancestor, the founder of our book publishing business, was officially commissioned by the Founder King himself to publish many publications, from official documents, letters, individual accounts, biographies, and other forms of documentation depicting many histories of our kingdom an their line, meant to be published for the Lucian Government and the library system. We are also responsible for publishing many biographies and autobiographical accounts of every member of the Lucis Caelum line, even till today: kings, queens, consorts, princes, princesses, even those related to the Lucis Caelum line who were not officially royal, you name it. No one really knew of my family in public because the Lucis Caelums wanted to keep our publishing tradition, business, and the reputation a secret. After all the wars we’ve been through with Niflheim, I could see why.”

I remained quiet, yet at the same time, both Talcott and I were very intrigued with the notebooks. I still wanted to give him the stage to continue with his words. “It was my fault. Entirely my fault. I promised my late father that I should hand-deliver this to King Regis years ago when he and his retinue were out of the Crown City, fighting alongside our mighty military against the imperialists. He said it was very important to ensure permanent peace and order throughout Eos, especially here in Lucis. My own cowardly fear against the daemons have gotten the best of me. And now, it is too late. His Majesty King Regis is gone, even his more powerful son and heir, King Noctis, is also gone. We have no king to bring back our peace and prosperity to Lucis again. Bringing back the light and bringing back the peace is not the same!”

Talcott looked up from the first notebook and gazed right at the donor and myself. I turned to the donor. “There is one thing we’d like to know, Sir. If these manuscripts were meant to be seen only by the Lucian royalty, shouldn’t you be donating this to the Insomnia branch of the Lucian library system? Why here at Lestallum?”

Talcott nodded in agreement with my question. The donor answered. “It is bad enough that we are having civil unrest going on in the Crown City today. Now there are rumors that the remnants of the Niflheim Empire and even that of Accordo are also interested in the royal seat of Lucis. I am afraid of what may happen next if the original Cosmogony notebooks fall into the wrong hands because of these factions. If we are speaking of review and analysis of the Cosmogony, it has to be a fellow Lucian scholar with expertise in the field of our great country’s history and legacy. No one knows who is working at the Insomnia Public Library right now. Our forefathers have founded and published the Cosmogony. Our forefathers founded the true nature of Eos. We Lucians are the closest in connection to the Holy Astrals. No power-hungry Lucian or any foreigner must have their hands on these notebooks.”

“The Cosmogony Drafts,” Talcott murmured, “by Lucian founders and scholars for true, loyal Lucians.”

The young intern and I placed the notebooks back and closed the box, as the old man began writing the combination lock number on a piece of paper. “Yes. Your supervisor, from what I was told, isn’t even Lucian. Smithers, you say?”

“Well, he’s originally from Altissia but he moved here just a few moments before the long night,” I mentioned to the donor regarding our senior archivist. “He’s gotten himself used to the culture here, mainly Lestallum. It may not be as glorious or as classy or as wealthy as Altissia, but it’s still a homely town for everyone.”

“If you could keep this a secret until further notice, it would be of great benefit for the future of Lucis. I am no politician myself, but what I have seen through those notebooks have become very crucial, especially at this period of time. As you said: Lucian artifacts established by Lucian founders and scholars, only to be presented to true, loyal Lucians.”

“Crucial? What do you mean?”

“You see… if you… make comparisons to the other editions of the Cosmogony that you possess in this library, starting with the very first edition from those same two thousand years ago… well, you need to see it for yourself.”

“Comparisons…” I made a note to myself to do this brand-new study back at home instead of here in the library. If this were supposed to be a top secret donation, then I have to keep this man’s word for it. He did not mention anything about bringing this up to Mr. Smithers, meaning that we would have to keep this project a secret from him as well. I wanted to ask more questions, but it looks like the donor was in a hurry to leave.

“Sir, how would I be able to contact you if I have any questions?”

The old man shook his head. “No need for you to ask questions. I have already told you everything I know. The answers that you have will all lie in these notebooks.”

I nodded. “Alright then. Thank you very much.”

We adjourned the meeting, as the old man had other errands to do, but he also made a promise that he will visit again when needed. I also handed him my direct line, should he need to contact me on the phone. It was the easiest way of contact for him, as he knew very little of the advanced technology that Insomnia finally contributed throughout all the provinces of Lucis including Cleigne. I showed him all the way to the office door, greeting him a bye. Once he exited the door, I spotted Tempie already making short conversations with the Ignis and Prompto, who recently arrived. To my surprise, their third man, Gladiolus Amicitia, was also present. I thought he and his family were arriving later this afternoon? Guess Gladio decided to travel earlier than we thought.

Tempie excused herself to escort the donor to the exit, while Talcott exited the office door and waved at the three. Prompto saluted at the young intern, informing Ignis and Gladio that my office was finally free. The three men approached slowly at the offices behind the library counter, with Ignis wrapping an arm around Gladio’s for guidance.

“Sorry we got here late, Gladio arrived early,” Prompto greeted us with his usual sunshine smile. “I see you two had a visitor!”

“Guys,” Talcott answered, “you’re not gonna believe what Briony and I just witnessed now with that visitor.”

“Yeah? Something more interesting than seeing those psychos at the Crown City on the TV news?” Gladio made his usual, familiar style of commenting.

“Hah, way better than those psychos at the Crown City on the TV news, Gladio!” Talcott laughed.

“Let’s hear it then,” Gladio snickered, as the three entered the office. I closed the door behind them, as we all took a seat at the office table.

“Good seeing you three together,” I greeted the three. Talcott cleared off his things to one corner so the three can have more space around the table if needed.

“You guys want anything? Coffee, tea, water?” Talcott offered refreshments for the three.

“Nah, I’m good,” Gladio nodded.

“Same here, Talcott. Thanks though!” Prompto answered.

“Talcott, you know what I want,” Ignis smiled, knowing his young colleague very well.

“Black or with cream, Ignis?” Talcott went on with the questions?

“Black with honey.”

“Ebony Black with Honey it is.” Talcott grinned, leaving Prompto and Gladio snickering while he headed to the library break room to get Ignis’ usual morning perk.

“That’s one thing that ain’t gonna change in Iggy,” Gladio smirked. “You and your Ebony.”

“Oh yeah. You and your Ebony.” Prompto grinned, slowly nudging me on the side.

“Hey, what was that for?”

“Did you have an Ebony earlier today?”

I lowered my head, hiding my blushing from the boys. “Saxham Roast-style…” I muttered the type of coffee that I had earlier this morning. “Come on, Prompto, it’s just coffee.”

“It’s just coffee, she says. Uh-huh,” Gladio snickered. I tried not to make any embarrassing sounds so that Ignis would not suspect.

“As always, you two would never understand good company over a deliciously enticing cup of Ebony,” Ignis made his own comment, still in his usual stern voice. “After all these years, you two continue to make your own ignorant remarks about me and Ebony.”

“Hey, we didn’t say anything bad about Ebony, Iggy,” Prompto defended while he refrained himself from giggling along with Gladio. “I mean, Ebony’s cool, the coffee shops are cool, two people destined to meet over an Ebony are cool, something something you know!”

“Hey, guys, quit it, stop with the coffee jokes,” I glared at the two, even though I know that wasn’t going to stop the two guys from the implied teasing. Still, I couldn’t help but blush at the sight of the dashingly handsome blind man. The heartbreaking part of it all is that he would never be able to see me or any of his friends.

“Aww, look at Miss Pacem blushing like a blushing bride.” I heard Gladio continuing on with the teasing. I’m not going to deny that I’m blushing in embarrassment right now. “Seriously, Iggy, just head back to Crown City and get major treatment with those eyes on yours so you can get your eyesight back. You’re missing out on the beauties of life today, especially the one sitting right across from you—-”

“Gladio!” I exclaimed in surprise, doing all I can to hush him up.

“Hmph. I shall give no comment on that remark, Gladio,” Ignis frowned. “Are you two done with the teasing and the coffee jokes?”

Prompto made his own statement with a little teasing sigh. “After all these years, Iggy, you still don’t get the picture. You and Noct are really close to being the same because you’re both naive with a lot of stuff, it really scares me.”

“Now, listen here, Prompto, don’t you dare compare me to…” Just as Ignis was about to mention the nickname of our beloved lost king, he lowered his head and then led out a sigh. “I… even today, I can’t even say his name.”

“Ignis…” I frowned in sadness, and without even realizing it, I reached my hand towards his. Even I was feeling heartbroken just hearing that name. Right then, everything fell silent among us. The teasing finally stopped, with both Prompto and Gladio lowering their heads as well.

“Thank you, Briony…” Much to my hidden surprise, he placed his other hand on mine. I shouldn’t be blushing and let my heart beat rapidly because the man I’ve been secretly pining for all these years was touching my hand.

At this awkward silence, Talcott arrived with a cup of Ebony coffee the way Ignis requested it. “Huh… why so quiet, guys?” He placed the coffee in front of Ignis, then guided one of his hands to the cup holder.

“Ah, my Ebony is here,” Ignis whispered, feeling the handle of the cup with his thumb and pointer finger. “Thank you, Talcott.”

“No problem.” The solemn silence ended immediately when Talcott took his seat. “Hey guys, why so silent?”

“Er… we just got surprised because you arrived,” Prompto fibbed with his teeth grinding.

“You guys got surprised because I arrived with the coffee?” Talcott gently scratched his temple. “Uh, okay… sure.”

“Right,” I officially refocused our minds to the mysterious donation that the elderly donor gave us earlier today. “So, our small appointment with the visitor earlier today…”

“Yes, of course,” Ignis nodded. “Who was that mysterious donor that Temperance was mentioning to us earlier, Briony?”

“We’re about to get to that part,” I reminded Ignis. I placed the box of notebooks at the table and opened it using the combination lock that the donor provided me. Talcott handed three pairs of gloves to the three men, as to protect their hands from contaminating the well-preserved manuscript notebooks of the Cosmogony.

“The hell are those?” Gladio stared at the notebooks. “They look too damn old alright, reeks damn old too, much older-looking than the rest of Lucis outside the Crown City.”

“The original manuscripts to the Cosmogony, guys,” Talcott declared then.

“What? The manuscripts of the Cosmogony? Seriously!” Prompto exclaimed in shock. “I gotta take a picture of these notebooks!”

“Don’t get too excited yet, Prompto,” I warned him. “Talcott already confirmed the validity of these notebooks. They’re not fake or man-made to make it look authentic, guys. The faded handwritten passages here matched the passages of the first few pages of the modern editions of the Cosmogony.”

“Well drat,” Ignis deeply sighed. “Now I am considering your suggestion earlier, Gladio.”

“Yeah? What about, Iggy?”

“About returning to the Crown City to have treatment for my eyes.”

“Told ya,” Gladio grinned.

“So that I may be able to look at these manuscripts myself, Gladio,” Ignis gave a stern reminder to Gladio of his previous statement. “Never have I thought of the day I would be hearing of a set of original manuscripts to the holy book itself.”

“Then, that means, those notebooks are really valuable then! If they’re put on auction, all of the powerful people of Eos are going to kill each other for the highest gil for those notebooks!” Prompto made his own statement, rubbing his chin. “Can you imagine that?”

“Well, obviously we’re not going to put it up on auction,” I reminded the blonde photographer. “But, the donor said to us that the valuable part of these notebooks is not of their ages, but the contents that were originally intended to be published. According to him, there were some parts in these notebooks that were omitted from the published editions, and we’re about to find out what those omitted passages are.”

“Also,” Talcott added, “if the donor did say that his family, a family of book publishers officially commissioned by the Lucian royalty and government, then those omitted passages must have been under the authority of the Founder King and its descendant kings and queens overseeing these published editions.”

“But why now?” Ignis gently rubbed his chin. “Why would that mysterious donor suddenly donate these notebooks today, when he could’ve done it several years ago?”

“Starscourge, remember,” I reminded Ignis. “The donor, like every single Eos citizen, was afraid to come outside of his own home, even with escort from the hunters.”

“Of course. Understandable. Very well then, if you all don’t mind, please read the passages from the notebooks so that I may hear the contents myself.”

“I’ll read them for you, Ignis,” Talcott volunteered, which Ignis thanked him.

“I heard about you guys involved in this huge project with the Insomnia Library about publishing another edition of the Cosmogony,” Gladio began. “Well, it kinda makes sense since the whole Starscourge crap finally ended.”

“I wonder,” Prompto scratched his head, “what if that donor geezer wanted us to publish everything from that original manuscript that wasn’t included in the previous editions of the Cosmogony?”

“If that was the case, how’s that gonna help us and all the shit that’s been happening at the Crown City right now?” Gladio crossed his arms.

“Maybe, Gladio,” Talcott answered, “whatever we may find here, we may find a good solution that would finally end these faction wars at the Crown City. Personally, I don’t want any of those three factions taking over the entire Eos starting with Lucis.”

“Desecrating the Citadel with their own selfish desires is the same as wishing for their own painful deaths from the gods,” Ignis made his own statement with the situation. “I sure do hope the Marshal and Libertus and Dave, along with their remaining Crownsguard, Glaives, and Hunters are faring well more or less with all these civil unrest going on over there.”

“We’ve got a few Glaives and Hunters injured because of all the mess out there,” Gladio informed us of the bad news. “No one’s killed yet, and we’re gonna make sure it stays that way.”

“Hell, better make sure the Citadel remains locked up, man,” Prompto frowned with his complaint. “Those jerks don’t realize that so many people died in there, including… well… you all know already!”

“Ain’t gotta tell me twice, Prompto,” Gladio crossed his arms. “But, even though I’m in a higher position now, still can’t screw around with the Marshal’s orders, plus the Missus had been complaining about me not spending time with her and the little one because of all the ruckus. So, I guess, you could say, this is our time to spend for the rest of the day.”

“Rest of the day, Gladio?” Ignis joined in. “Why? Are you going somewhere tomorrow?”

Gladio sighed. “Going back to the Crown City. The Missus is already pissed but this is all for hers and our little one’s good, you know? At least here in Lestallum, everything’s back to normal compared to the Crown City.”

“Yup, good ol’ Lestallum,” I smiled with pride for the town I was born and raised in.

Gladio went on. “The Marshal ain’t gonna like it when I show up again tomorrow but the crap that’s been happening over there ain’t gonna get much better. We could use some help but we can’t be grabbin’ every single hunter and retired Glaive from all over Lucis and drag them over to the Crown City.” He turned his head right at Talcott. “Can’t ask the both of you to come out of retirement because you got this huge Cosmogony project going on.”

“If you ask me, Gladio, we can halt the project and join you guys in maintaining order at the Crown City. Besides, haven’t been back there in awhile now.” The young intern glanced right at me. “How about you Briony?”

I haven’t really thought of the idea myself. “Mr. Smithers would be a little difficult to convince otherwise.”

“Oh. Right.” Talcott frowned at the thought. “Mr. Smithers, the anti-war pacifist. Can’t forget how hesitant he was to hire you and me as part of his staff in the beginning.”

“Smithers, huh?” Gladio raised an eyebrow. “If he’s some kind of an anti-war pacifist then you both best be careful around him. It’s bad enough everyone’s gone political after the Starscourge and so far, Lucis is in damn chaos. Light has returned but the peace still ain’t back. The hell was that all about? It’s like Noct’s final act was a complete waste.”

“Hm,” I began to rub my chin after hearing the latter statement from Gladio. “The king’s final act was a complete waste, huh… I wonder.”

“Huh? What’s up, Briony?” I heard Prompto’s curiosity.

I reached for the notebooks again and opened the second notebook. “The donor who gave us these notebooks sounded really desperate. He kept on going on and on about how it’s all his fault that he didn’t deliver these notebooks right away and on time. Originally, King Regis was the recipient to these notebooks, but out of his cowardice and safety from the lingering daemons all over Lucis, he wasn’t able to give these notebooks to him in no time.”

“He never thought about Noct?” Prompto crossed his arms. “I mean, where was he then when we were hiding away from the Niffs before?”

“There was no way the donor would be able to find us, even with him alone,” Ignis made his statement. “We were in hiding, he was also in hiding. We all refuse to show ourselves in the open because we were all hiding. Quite unfortunate.”

Talcott reached for the second notebook in my hand. “Can I see the second notebook, Briony?”

“Knock yourself out, kid.” I handed him the notebook as he began to do his usual analysis, magnifying glass at hand. Prompto and Gladio were also doing their own curious skimming through the first notebook, gloves and magnifying glasses and all.

Prompto even asked permission if he could take a few photos of the manuscript. “You’re not gonna make prints or publish those shots in public, are you?” I glared right at the photographer.

“Relax, lady, this is for my personal collection, ya know?”

“Personal collection, right.” Gladio raised an eyebrow at him. Glad I wasn’t the only one suspicious.

“Anything suspicious or questionable between the comparisons, Talcott?” I heard Ignis asking his questions. After all, it wasn’t as if the manuscripts also had a Braille edition so Ignis can touch-read it himself.

“Mostly paraphrases of some original yet wordy passages, Ignis,” Talcott answered. “Otherwise, the majority of the contents on these notebooks are all in the published editions.”

“Well, drat,” Ignis led out a sigh. “I wonder what it is that the donor is worried about with those notebooks? You mean there was nothing significant, Talcott? Are you sure?”

“So far,” Talcott continued with the pages, “nothing significant that would…” Just as he was about to continue, he stopped at a particular page, making us turn our eyes right at him. “Hold it, wait a minute.”

“You found something, Talcott?” Gladio asked curiously.

Talcott placed his magnifying glass in front of him as he slowly read what he just spotted. “This passage here has been crossed out, but not completely erased. Let me read what I can.”

“Alright, let’s hear it,” I said.

“Okay here goes.” Talcott began to read what he can make underneath the strikethrough lines.

“’Should an omen foreseen are not on the side of the kings, it can be remedied through the power of time control…’”

“What?” Ignis gasped, slowly slapping his hand onto the table. “The power of time control?”

“Let me finish, Ignis,” Talcott insisted and continued.

“’Only a few kings have the power to alter and manipulate time, but only can be used once. These few kings also must consult, in any way they can, one of the twenty-four messengers without the need to…’ Hm, hold on, can’t really make this one. I’ll get back to that later.” He continued on and skipped whatever word he could not read. “Something… something… ‘… Six. The Chosen King isn’t just chosen by the Six to end the Starscourge, but the Chosen King is also chosen as the true ruler, not just all of Eos, but also over the gods…’”

We all gazed at one another with surprise. Knowing that King Noctis was chosen to be this Chosen King, we were appalled of his authority over Eos and even over the gods. Then again this was an omitted passage written on the notebook and was never published in the published editions of the Cosmogony from its first publication till the current one.

“Man, what a trip!” Prompto exclaimed, nudging both Gladio and Ignis. “Imagine that Noct is still here with us. He doesn’t just rule over Lucis, but all over Eos and even over the gods? That means, even the Six will end up answering to him when desperate times call for desperate measures, right?”

“Imagine that, Prompto…” Gladio sighed sadly, knowing that we currently live on the side of reality.

“Few kings… meaning not all kings are born with the power of time alteration and manipulation,” Ignis rubbed his chin. “None of us, not even the top expert scholars throughout the Crown City know of this fact. The power to alter and manipulate time…”

“From the looks of the omitted passage, this power of time can only be used once, and it will only work if something foreseen, probably like a prediction on what the future may look like, does not fall in the favor of kings,” Talcott made his own analysis. “There’s more underneath the strikethrough lines.’”

“Continue please, Talcott.”

“’… The powers and authority of the Chosen King will become purely divine and all powerful over all good and evil, as long as the Oracle is right by his side… No darkness or usurper shall match that of the rule and authority of the Chosen King… Those who oppose shall face eternal death…’ something… something…”

Talcott realized that he just reached the last page of the notebook. He began to scratch his head and flipped back on the previous pages. Quickly, he grabbed the current edition of the Cosmogony and flipped through the last few pages. We gazed at him doing his quick work, back and forth, until he ended up closing both the second notebook and the Cosmogony itself.

“Three notebooks, right?”

“Found something fishy, Talcott?” Prompto asked out of interest.

“Yeah,” Talcott stared at us looking perplexed. “The omitted passages came right after the last few passages of the published Cosmogony. The second notebook marks the second half of the published Cosmogony… but why are there three notebooks?”

Quickly, I opened the box again and took out the third notebook. “Don’t tell me whatever’s in the third notebook are all omitted!”

“Hurry up and read it,” I heard Gladio’s demanding voice. Carefully, I opened the cover and saw the title in huge, old world calligraphy-style text, right on top of the pages. It read…

“Pei-on-ay exer-see-tu ad re-gem re-gum,” I read the title with an obvious bad pronunciation.

“Pai-yo-ni-ay e-xer-chi-tu ad re-jem re-goom,” Ignis, the more educated one compared to the rest of us in the office, corrected me with the pronunciation of the headline, written as Paeoniae Exercitu ad Regem Regum. “Interesting title. It’s translated as The Homecoming of the King of Kings.”

“The subtitle underneath is read ‘Stories and Tall Tales from the Five Provinces of Lucis’. It was dated approximately 2000 years ago as well,” I continued. “It looks like this is some kind of an anthology of some sort.” I flipped the title page over to see yet another note handwritten around the same time. It looked like a sidenote from the book publisher. “There’s a note here.”

“What’d it say?” Prompto asked.

“I’m about to read it right now, Prompto.” I cleared my throat and read it aloud.

“’We received official documentation from the King himself to not include these compiled collection of tall tales and local stories from the provinces outside the Crown City. The reasoning on the documentation made no sense to us, only indicating that including these collected stories in the first published edition of the Cosmogony may be deemed too dangerous. This is for the safety and security of all Lucian people, and it was best to not include these stories in the Cosmogony. If you ask me, I have seen a common theme within these collected stories, and they were talking about the prophesied Homecoming of the King of Kings. Even though we’ve done all we can to convince the high council that including these tall tales in the Cosmogony is very important, as they also signify the rich and pure culture of Lucis, including them was still deemed dangerous. There was no evidence of proof that these tall tales are real in the first place, and we all thought that it was fine to include them, however, the high council insisted to not include them. It was either they have concerns about the well-being of all Lucians or that the royal family must be hiding something from the public. Even so, these collection of stories will not be discarded and will remain in this notebook. One day, future generations may read them, and reconsider including them in the next editions of the Cosmogony.’”

“Documentation, huh? Sounds fishy if you think about it,” Gladio made his statement. “I think it’d be more believable if the king himself, whoever he was back then, was the one who told these folks verbally not to publish these tall tales.”

Prompto gasped and quickly opened his eyes right at the rest of us, once he realized the translation of the Latin title. “Does… does that mean, there is a way to… you know…”

“Prompto, if only this can be possible,” Ignis led out a sigh. “But I do seem to recall that toying with necromancy is against Lucian Royal Law and the Order of the Gods.”

“Lucian Royal Law? Order of the Gods? You mad, bro?” Prompto gasped, glaring at Ignis’ statement. “Dude, in case you’ve forgotten, we got no king, we got no oracle, all the high council members are dead, we got no law and order going on at the Crown City, the gods pretty much abandoned us to kill ourselves after Noct, we’re pretty much under anarchy right now!”

“I don’t think Prompto’s talking about necromancy, Ignis,” Talcott defended the photographer. “I think he was connecting the omitted passages from the last pages of the second notebook and whatever it is that’s written in the third notebook. From the looks of things, necromancy and time alteration and manipulation are two different things.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that.” In a flash, I recalled a past memory back from some five years ago when both my late childhood friend Cecil, as well as Libertus, mentioned about spending their days on duty right inside the Citadel and having their eyes right at the king. “My late friend Cecil and even Libertus once said that they witnessed the king… well, King Regis… communicating with the dead.”

“Oh? How so?” Prompto scratched his head.

“Of course,” Ignis led out a soft sight. “The crystal and the Ring of the Lucii… why didn’t I think of that?”

“That’s a form of necromancy, Ignis,” Talcott raised up a fact. Of course, I thought. “Unless you meant…”

“I meant, the form of necromancy in which we, for example, would follow whatever’s written on those notebooks and then attempt to rise the deceased back to life,” Ignis finally clarified his statement. “Communicating with the dead is one thing. Bringing back the deceased to the living is another. The latter is what I’m referring to as something that’s against the laws and orders of both the Lucii and the gods themselves.”

“Yikes!” Prompto gulped nervously. “That sounds scary right there, I’d seriously creep out… but guys, we’re talking about Noct here… maybe Lunafreya included too! I mean, both! We can save them, bring them back to life! And when we bring them back to life, we can finally restore peace and prosperity throughout Eos and we won’t have to be dealing with these psycho factions that are screwing around the Crown City right now!”

“Let us not be hasty, Prompto,” Ignis continued on with the warning. “We don’t exactly know what’s written in that third notebook until we start reading and analyzing them. And, the words tall tales are giving me doubts of these possibilities.”

“So, what the hell are we waiting for? Let’s crack it and read the damn third notebook!” Gladio exclaimed.

“Alright, here goes.” I was about to read the first page when we heard someone’s smartphone ringing its standard ringtone. “Well… right after someone answers their smartphone right now.”

Everyone around the table reached for their phones, only to see Gladio’s phone blazing with the vibration and the ringtone at the same time. “Sorry, my bad. I gotta take this. I’ll be back.” He stood up and exited the office, answering the phone. Rather than moving on ahead without the big guy, we decided to wait.

“Around this time,” Ignis led out a sigh. “I know I said we shouldn’t be hasty, but now my curiosity has apparently risen up to the roof.”

“Ha!” Prompto smirked. “I knew you’d be so curious as much as we are! I can see it from your eyes!”

“Prompto, you can’t even see my eyes,” Ignis lowered his tone, referring to his blindness. Talcott refrained himself from chuckling when Gladio returned with an unsatisfied expression on his face. “Dude, Gladio, is it the Marshal?”

“Nope, it’s the Missus,” Gladio placed his smartphone back into his pocket. “I gotta head back to the apartment and keep them company. Iris is heading out in one of her hunting missions.”

“Aw, that’s too bad,” Prompto sighed. “But, that’s how it is when you’re a new dad now, huh?”

“Heh, yeah,” Gladio smirked. “Gotta spend less time with the bros… and sister…” He mentioned the latter right when he glanced right at me.

“Not to mention spending less time working with the Marshal regarding the Crown City,” Talcott gave a shrugging expression.

“That too. Anyway, can y’all save that third notebook thing later or something when I’m finally free?”

“We might spend some time at Briony’s family home,” Ignis indicated. “That is, if Briony doesn’t mind.”

“Oh no, you’re welcome anytime,” I smiled. “My parents get excited when I bring in visitors, since I’m the only one among my siblings who’s still single, you know?”

“Yup,” Talcott nodded. “They get more excited when Ignis comes over for a visit.”

“Really, now?” Prompto snickered. I had a feeling that little fact was going to be brought up eventually. “Briony’s parents get really happy when good ol’ Iggy comes by and visit? Now this I gotta see!”

“Come now, Prompto, it’s no big deal,” Ignis sighed while I shrugged my shoulders.

“My mother has a crush on Ignis, I’m afraid.” Prompto and Talcott gave themselves their own chuckles with Gladio grinning along with them. I decided to change the subject, seeing Ignis looking very annoyed right now. “Alright, guys, stop it already. Tonight, my place. You guys might as well sleep over too.”

“Hm, good idea,” Talcott nodded in agreement. “I mean, I’m sharing the apartment with Iris and with Gladio’s family being there, I think there’ll be a lot more breathing room if I sleep over your place, Briony.”

“I’m coming with you, Talcott,” Gladio immediately insisted.

“Wouldn’t your wife get mad?” The intern curiously asked.

“Nah, give the ladies some girl’s night. Iris will take care of her and the little one.”

“Whatever you say, Gladio.”

Prompto gave a thumbs up. “Yeah, why not? Not like it’s the first time I’ve slept in your place. Your mom makes the best zu skewers! Noct would be digging some of them skewers once he tastes them, you know?”

I led out a chuckle. “I’m pretty sure the king would enjoy those skewers, Prompto. I’ll be sure to let Mom know to make some of those skewers for dinner. You better let Old Man Cid know so he doesn’t get lonely.”

“Cindy will be arriving later tonight at Lestallum to visit her grandfather and Holly,” Ignis indicated. Once in awhile, Cindy would stop by Lestallum when she had the chance to visit her Paw-Paw and Cindy’s bosom buddy, current senior manager of EXINERIS, Holly Teulle. “I don’t think Cid would be up with the idea knowing that two men near her age are sleeping under the same roof as her.”

Prompto led out a frown. “Now you tell me that Cindy’s coming over, Iggy? You always spoil the surprise sometimes, you know?”

“You’ll be seeing a lot of Cindy tomorrow, Prompto, I can assure you.”

“Meh. Fine.”

Right then, Gladio made his own exit. Prompto insisted he’d escort him along but Gladio also insisted that he had been to Lestallum several times that he’s already memorized the map of the entire town. With the former king’s shield making his way out, Prompto remained in the office with Ignis, Talcott and me. I reminded him that he can take plenty of pictures of the notebooks later when we get to my place. After all, with the new modernization of the Crown City finally reaching the rest of the country, the Lestallum Public Library already has security cameras installed throughout the building now, including my office.

Just as we were about to get back to work, I heard the door knock on my office. Tempie sneaked her head in to see us with her usual perky smile. “You guys busy? I hope I’m not interrupting anything important.”

“Nah, come on in.” I invited her inside, as Tempie waved at the three guys. “What’s up?”

“Well, I’m already taking down orders for today’s lunch. Tonya and myself are gonna get out to Tostwell Grill for our lunch boxes. Here’s the menu, and let us know what you guys want. We’re heading off in about an hour.” Tempie handed the paper menu to us, where Prompto and Talcott began to choose their lunch for today.

“Thanks for ordering lunch for us, Tempie,” I thanked her right away.

“Another thing too. Smithers is arriving home in some fifteen to twenty minutes from today too.”

Right then, I displayed a panicking face, remembering what the donor mentioned earlier. We can use the first two notebooks as references to the Cosmogony project, but the third notebook is what we want to hide from him. “Thanks for reminding us, Tempie.”

“No problem.” Right then, Ignis, Prompto, and Talcott picked their choice from the menu as she wrote them down, while I indicated that I wanted the skewers lunch combo. As she wrote our choices on her notebook, she continued on. “Anyway, Smithers was sounding really weird today when he called earlier. He sounded really desperate and that he’s worked up with something. He was mumbling about something to do with doing some traveling and excavating to the Crown City and stuff.”

All four of us present stared at her with suspicion in our minds. Ignis began asking questions. “Traveling and excavating in the Crown City? What on earth would he be excavating?”

Tempie crossed her arms. “I have no idea, Ignis, but it sounds like he… or somebody tipped him off… of some really strange entrance to some sewer system just before the border bridge leading to the Crown City from Leide. Said something about that the sewers system has an ancient map or something in which one or a few of the sewer pathways lead towards the Citadel or something—”

“Say what?” Prompto stood up, with Talcott hushing the photographer down.

“So, he tells you but he hasn’t even called any one of us?” Talcott frowned at the statement.

“I guess he’ll tell you all about it when he gets here. Anyway, thanks for all your orders!”

“Thank you for informing us of this, Temperance,” Ignis thanked the young librarian. Among us in this group, only the ever-so-formal Ignis Scientia would only call her by her full name.

Prompto gave a thumbs up. “Say Tempie, I’ll join you ladies on picking up the orders.”

The dark-skinned young librarian smiled. “You serious, Prompto? We could use some company, you know? Got some interesting shots you got in mind?”

“Maybe. I haven’t been taking that many shots of modern Lestallum life as of late, plus I need to soak up the warmth of the sun anyway.” Right then, he gave a wink towards Talcott and me, with us still wondering why he was winking at us for.

“Awrighty. We’ll let you know when we’re about to head off, alright?” Looks like Prompto will have a bit of a lunch date with two library staffers to Tostwell Grill. Once Tempie left the office, Prompto closed the door behind her and turned right at us.

“Give me the third notebook once I leave,” Prompto made his suggestion.

“Wait, wait, hold on, bro,” I raised my voice with suspicion. “Why the hell do you want that notebook for?”

“Something’s fishy with that Smithers guy. Hell, I barely knew the guy but Ignis has suspicions about him too! I dunno, I don’t trust him with the third notebook laying around.”

“It’s risky but you may have a point there, Prompto,” Ignis agreed with his longtime friend. “Just keep the third notebook with you in your backpack and no one will suspect you hiding something, at least not here in Lestallum. As long as you don’t plan on leaving town.”

“Dude, of course not, Iggy,” Prompto frowned. “I’ll be kickin’ it with the ladies, maybe stop by your apartment to say hello to Cindy and Paw-Paw, maybe stop by Iris’ apartment to say what’s up with Gladio and family, goin’ around town taking pictures of everyday Lucian life in the second biggest city of all Lucis, you know?”

“We trust you, Prompto,” Talcott grinned, patting his older friend on the shoulder. “It’s just like old times, where we would risk everything that we’ve got for him, so protecting the third notebook would be something of service to him, you know?”

“Yeah, you got that right, kid!” Prompto and Talcott exchanged hi-fives, as I gently placed the third notebook back in its box and locked it using the combination lock. I handed the box to Prompto as he placed it right inside his backpack.

“Thanks, Briony. Say, I brought some old pictures from some twenty years ago with me. Maybe when we have time tonight at your place, I can show them to you.”

“Old pictures, you say?” Ignis’ voice raised with interest. “Ah, now I seriously need to set up an appointment with the doctor at the Crown City regarding my eyes…”

“Yeah man, you better,” Prompto frowned. “I’m sure you always loved my shots, especially the ones with us in it.”

“Absolutely.”

“I also got the prints developed from Noct’s camera too.”

I gasped right when I heard the latter. “The King took photos also?”

“Yup. He borrowed one of my cameras, so technically the camera wasn’t his, but I barely used that model anymore so I just let him borrow it. He also used his smartphone to take photos too. I was able to get those shots developed too. They’re all in here.” He patted on his backpack. Now the photos have gotten me a lot more curious.

“Ah yes,” Ignis smiled. “He was quite the photographer. His part-time job at that camera store with you did give him some benefits after all. I wish I could say the same with his other part-time job at that restaurant…”

“Hey, no sweat, at least he’s able to adapt to different kinds of food and not just royalty food, you know?”

“That sounds so cool! I can’t wait to see King Noctis’ pictures!” Talcott cheered in excitement.

“Then it’s a plan.” Prompto began packing some of his things and made sure that the third notebook was tight and secure in his backpack. Right then, we hear Tempie’s voice from outside greeting the person we decided to be careful with. “Looks like Smithers is here. That’s my cue.”

“See you tonight then, Prompto,” I waved at him, with Ignis patting his old friend on the shoulder.

“Keep your eyes and ears open while you’re out there, Prompto.”

“Roger.” He saluted at us, as he made his way outside.

While we continued to stare at Prompto leaving, and eventually meeting up with Tempie and Tonya, one of the clerks in the library in her late forties, we also witnessed Ovid Smithers, the senior archivist and also mine and Talcott’s boss, already approaching the offices area. He hasn’t reached out for my office door just yet, but eventually we will.

“Remember to keep cool and mind your mentioning of the omitted content of the Cosmogony,” we heard Ignis warning us. We nodded in agreement, with Talcott reminding Ignis that he and I will have our eyes towards our current work, so that it would appear to Smithers that we’re still continuing on working hard for the upcoming new version of the holy book.

Just as we predicted, Ovid Smithers came to the door, knocking. Talcott stood up from his seat and opened the door. “Mr. Smithers, welcome back. How was the commute?” The young intern invited Smithers in my office, with Ignis and myself greeting him in return.

“Terrible, Talcott. Even the passengers in the bus were getting a lot more political than before,” Smithers muttered, as he leaned himself against my empty desk. “All the chaos that’s going on in Insomnia is pretty much chaos throughout this country.”

“How are things at the Insomnia Library?”

The senior archivist shook his head. “I do not understand Lucian thought and policy regarding their ancient artifacts and documents. The way they handle things there is not the same as the way we handle these same things back in Altissia. I made my proposal in clearing out the opening of the old sewers system outside the West Gate to the capital, however, the scholars over there are hesitant to enter or even considering obtaining permission from that marshal. After all, the Citadel has been completely shut down for the last five years. This country believes that the ancient royal family are still ruling it in spirit and have to pray to them for permission.”

I noticed Ignis’ facial expression seeming like Smithers was insulting the entire Lucis Caelum line and how things are being handled at the Crown City right now. He remained silent since the supervisor opened his mouth. Knowing him for almost over fifteen years now, he was the type to think twice first before he speaks up about something out of impulse.

“Have you actually checked out the sewers yourself, Mr. Smithers?” Talcott curiously asked. “How do you know that these sewers lead back to the Citadel?”

“Heh,” Smithers gave a smirk. “Let’s just say, I went around their archives section and found an old map to a nearby sewage system indicated only as Crestholm Channels. From the looks of the sewage system maps, Crestholm Channels had been long abandoned almost forty-five years ago due to the increase in modernization of the Crown City. My my, how wasteful and careless can you get. I have carefully witnessed it and many of these closed chambers do lead to the underground of the Citadel. Now it is easier to gain entry without facing that ridiculous blockade that your former superiors created.”

I could see Ignis raising an eyebrow, but behind his sunglasses, no one can tell. I decided to take on the conversation in his steed. “You’re already doing something illegal in Lucis overall, Mr. Smithers,” I said to him. “Even here in Lestallum and the rest of Lucis, we have to have special permission from the monarchy and the high council to gain access to places like that.”

“Even for the sake of your thousands of years of history and legacy of your country?” Smithers raised an eyebrow right at us. “Besides, you have neither a king, nor a high council, for you to gain approval, therefore—”

“Therefore, it is up to the marshal to approve or deny that request.” Right then, Ignis interrupted the senior archivist’s proposal right at us. “In the absence of the Lucian monarchy or the high council, the most senior surviving shield of the monarchy is to be the interim authority over the entire kingdom, which in this case, would be Marshal Cor Leonis.”

“And this is coming from the one who is to become the future royal adviser to the Chosen King,” Smithers reacted. I can already see Talcott feeling uncomfortable with where this conversation is leading. “If you were the one to be the interim chancellor to this entire Kingdom of Lucis, what would you say?”

Ignis stood up with the help of his cane. “There are several ways to record history and preserve them for the new generations of Lucians to come, Mr. Smithers, but desecrating the Citadel for that reason alone is not one of them.” He then took a pause and changed his tone. “Now, if you will excuse me, I need to step out and have a bit of fresh air, thank you.”

That did it, my voice spoke inside of me. I may not be able to tell through his sunglasses, but I can already tell by his trembling voice that this senior archivist’s proposal of breaking in the Citadel through the old sewage system is an insult. Among all the people I have met who knew King Noctis well, Ignis clearly is the one who knew him best. Smithers didn’t seem phased with Ignis’s reaction and continued on with the subject anyway.

“Due to the nature of your past, the both of you, I am going to need your assistance to this huge opportunity,” he went on. Talcott lifted his head from his laptop and gave a slight frown.

“I think I’ll pass,” Talcott crossed his arms. “I’m already at work with my graduate thesis, but I don’t want that thesis to have scourging around the sewers involved in it. I’m a future historian, not an archaeologist.”

“You do know that your past was the reason why I hired the three of you,” Smithers went on. “Two former Kingsglaives and one former hunter. With all your battling and adventuring skills, I’m sure we can master the complicated sewage map of the Crestholm Channels easy, don’t you think?”

“What the heck are we fighting against in the sewers?” Talcott frowned. “The Starscourge already ended. The only thing that we’d be battling would be the dirty water that’s flowing through the sewage system and sewer rats— if they still exist.”

I also began my own reaction. “Sir, just because I was a Glaive, doesn’t mean I know the ins and outs of the Citadel no matter how you look at it. Most Glaives spent their entire careers at war against Niflheim right outside Insomnia, and in my case, outside Lucis. It’s also useless to ask Ignis because he’s blind.”

“And even then, it’s the sewers!” Talcott added. “Ignis isn’t gonna join in that underground expedition whether he’s blind or not. The Citadel was practically his second home, but with all the mess that happened inside the Citadel I’m sure with all the damages that the former enemy have caused, the Citadel would be unrecognizable inside now.”

“Hmph, you may have valid reasons, but it was your marshal and that interim Glaive captain and that head hunter who made the decision to lock up the Citadel after the Starscourge right away. How can all three of them know when they have never entered the Citadel all that time themselves?”

“Even then,” I answered, “breaking in the Citadel, bypassing Marshal Cor, Libertus, and Dave, all for the sake of historical preservation of Lucis is wrong. You’ve been living here in Lucis for almost ten years now because your home country pretty much went in ruins because of the Long Night, and you still know little of true Lucian thought. Regardless of what may happened during Insomnia’s downfall, all Lucians highly revered and truly loved the kings of the Lucis Caelum line. Our last king, King Noctis, was our one and only hope to true peace and salvation. He may have brought back the light, but there is no peace. And for that, it’s best that we keep the Citadel shut down for good until further notice. I’m sure Marshal Cor had his prior instructions several years ago prior to the downfall of Insomnia those fifteen years ago and passed it along to his subordinates, Monica Elshett and Dustin Ackers, and eventually, both interim Kingsglaive captain Libertus Ostium and head hunter Dave Auburnbrie. With respect to Ignis and his two close friends, Prompto and Gladio, it was best to let the three find their own inner peace for the loss of their brother.” I paused, stood up from my seat, and faced my supervisor. “You don’t have to think like a Lucian just to sink all of this in, but how would you feel from an Accordian perspective if your Secretary Claustra met her demise all of a sudden?”

Still, my explanation did not phase this Altissian senior archivist. Why did the library hire this guy anyway? Never mind that he’s a brilliant and dedicated archivist, but this is just being arrogant. Just as the conversation was about to continue, I heard the office door opening.

“Ignis, you’re back?” Talcott’s eyes widened. “Are you alright?”

The blind historical adviser tapped his sunglasses. “Very much, Talcott. My apologies for stepping out of the meeting.”

“No, no. You’re right, Ignis,” Smithers sighed, crossing his arms. “That was rather insensitive of me. I have almost forgotten that you and the late King Noctis have been the closest of bosom friends. Although I have my sympathies for you for your loss of your dear friend, I—”

“Mr. Smithers,” Ignis suddenly interrupted him. “When are you proposing for this… sewage system break-in… to take place?”

Smithers showed a rather shocked expression. “Ignis, I thought… well… I was hoping we can all go together to Insomnia first thing tomorrow morning and begin the sewage system investigation to the Citadel. The earlier, the better, before those three fanatic factions suddenly create some civil war and break in and start looting the royal palace.”

I was about to say something when Ignis signaled his finger for me and Talcott to remain silent. We let Ignis do the talking this time. “Is it just us, the Lestallum Library archives staff?”

Smithers shrugged his shoulders. “Why, do you have more reasons to refuse this expedition, Ignis?”

“May I suggest bringing along three more?”

“Three more? In addition to the four of us in this office?”

“Yes. My dear friends, Gladio and Prompto, and Gladio’s sister, Iris. And I have plenty good reasons why we should bring the three of them along.”

“Oh? What are they?”

I could see Ignis share a glint on his face. “When we do… get inside the Citadel… along with the documents and other intel that we may gather regarding the true legacy and history of the Kings of Lucis, you will also need a very capable photographer to visually document the chambers inside the Citadel right after the Starscourge. I know Prompto very well. He isn’t an award-winning photographer of Lucis for nothing, you know.”

What on earth is Ignis saying here? I heard Talcott whispering softly on my ear. I hushed him and let the two men continue with their conversation. 

“Ah, yes, Prompto Argentum, the famous freelance photographer,” Smithers nodded. “His photographs are strikingly real and they really do capture such emotions of different people in all paths of life. I have heard rumors that among all the more renowned photographers throughout Eos, your friend also possesses the most up close and personal photos of the late King Noctis since his childhood years, is this true?”

Ignis cleared his throat. “I believe you must ask Prompto that question yourself. Now, moving on. Because of my unfortunate blindness, the Amicitias are the next people you should turn to in regards to the ins and outs of the Citadel. Their father, the late Clarus Amicitia, is the head of the Lucian royal high council and also one of the late King Regis’ closest friends. Gladio is still currently serving as an interim officer of the Kingsglaive and Iris is also a hunter. The siblings would be able to talk to the marshal and Dave regarding this important… quest. If we are to face any remaining danger inside those sewers, at least we have the Amicitias, as well as former Glaive Briony and former hunter Talcott, to fend off these possible monsters and protect the both of us, you being a pacifist and I being a blind man, from getting killed. Well?”

Talcott gasped in surprise to hear this change of tone. “Are you serious, Ignis? We’re… really going to break in the Citadel?”

“Well, not quite breaking in now if Gladio and Iris are going to talk to both Marshal Cor and Dave about us entering the Citadel for historical archives purposes…” I shrugged my shoulders.

The young intern then brought up another question. “What if the Amicitias fail in gaining permission from Marshal Cor and Dave regarding the Citadel?”

“Then that’s when the term breaking in will finally apply,” Smithers crossed his arms. “I refuse to be refused again! If they are there to protect the Citadel from infidel factions like The Republic, The Imps, and the cult of psychos, it will be a lot better if historians and archivists would be the only ones to gain entry, don’t you think?”

Ignis led out a sigh. “Let us not be hasty, but let’s just hope that we do get our permission granted.”

“Very well,” Smithers clapped his hands. “Now, it may be early, but let’s all take a break from all these revisions for the next edition of the Cosmogony. Therefore for today, why don’t we all take the day off and prepare for tomorrow’s quest?”

“You’re letting us go home, Mr. Smithers?” Talcott blinked in surprise.

“Do you have a problem with this, Talcott?”

The intern shook his head. “No, I’m not questioning. I’m just surprised, that’s all.”

“Well then! First thing in the morning, we shall all meet at the lobby of the library. Ignis, be sure you let your friends know about this, alright?”

“Will do. Thank you.”

We packed up our things immediately. Smithers though caught me with the old notebooks and approached the table. “Well, well? I’ve never seen these materials before. What are these?”

“Oh!” I exclaimed. “We had a donor earlier today and gave us these ancient notebooks. Original manuscripts to the first edition of the Cosmogony. What a find, I say!”

“Is that so?”

“Talcott and I verified its validity. They’re the real deal.”

“Then, bring those notebooks along with you in our trip tomorrow. Maybe we can use it as reference, just in case.”

I agreed to bring the notebooks with us, as long as the third notebook in Prompto’s hands remained safe. I placed the two notebooks in a separate box to keep them from falling apart and placed it in my messenger bag. We then greeted each other a bye as we all exited the office. We also said our byes to the rest of the library staff while they continue to service the public with their books. Smithers went on a different direction, with the three of us approaching Tostwell Grill, where Prompto, Tempie, and another clerk named Tonya went to pick up our lunch orders.

When we found them at the marketplace, sitting at the table, we met them and told them the whole story. It turns out that Ignis did not just step out of the office to get some fresh air. He already made contacts with Cor himself and explained to him the situation. He hasn’t really mentioned what they really talked about, but from the sounds of it, Cor gave the okay for us to enter the Citadel. However, because we don’t want to get caught by all three factions present in the city and actually being permitted to enter the Citadel, the Crestholm Channels sewage system is still the only way for us to enter the Citadel without being seen by the public.

Few minutes later, Gladio and Iris arrived, just in time when lunch arrived. Ignis told them the entire story of what happened after Gladio and Prompto left. Talcott and I also learned that the four friends, including the prince, already had their stint inside Crestholm Channels themselves for some car parts requested by Cindy. I laughed at first of the main reason, but Prompto insisted that those car parts hidden in the sewers really made the late King Regis’ car, the Regalia, a lot more powerful through the darkness.

Gladio was up for the idea, but Prompto really hated his stint at the sewers, not because it was dangerous and scary, but mostly, the sewers smelled really bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, and thank you for your patience for the second chapter. I've already written rough drafts of the first 5-6 chapters of the fic, but I had to rewrite some of these chapters to make them a lot more sense. Chapter 2 is one of them.
> 
> I've done extensive research on the net, especially in regards to the timeline and the events that occurred prior to the Kingsglaive prequel movie. I would have to thank this [Wiki site](https://thelifestream.net/final-fantasy-xv-lore/final-fantasy-xv-timeline/) for translating the majority of the _FFXV Ultimania_ lore guidebook for this entire timeline. If my Japanese wasn't so patchy, I would've ordered that particular book and put up the translations myself. Aside from the timeline, I also had to go back and play both FFXV (main game) and Comrades to get the setting and feel of the scenery and the atmosphere, especially with Lestallum, and of course, how my Comrades character (Briony) fit into the homely environment of Lestallum, as well as the things young Talcott mentioned to your character about when you talk to him in the game.
> 
> In both the main game (ch. 14, near the end) and in Comrades, Talcott confirms that the Cosmogony isn't the only existing documentation of the entire history of Eos. Ignis discovered many different ancient documents about Eos' history that were not included in the Cosmogony. This canon fact here was what inspired me to make up the early manuscripts of the Cosmogony in which there are a lot of passages written in the notebooks that were omitted from its first final publication.
> 
> There are a few things that I've made up in this chapter. After all, this chapter takes place five years right after the Starscourge.
> 
> Hope this helps to clarify my sources for me to write these things. Please stay tuned for the next chapter. Thank you!


	3. Time and Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Briony, Ignis, and Talcott begin to read and analyze the mysterious third manuscript notebook containing Lucian regional tall tales that never made it in the first publication of the _Cosmogony_ , with Prompto and Gladio serving as their witnesses. They learn of a brief interview of an ancient Lucian prince who was said to have the power to predict the future, as well as a mention to the prince's older brother, who became known as "The Wanderer," one of the Ancient Kings of Yore who possess one of the thirteen Armiger royal arms. The three library archivists find two words in common with the tall tales: "time" and "seven."

**Pacem Family Residence (Dining Room)**  
 **Lestallum, Province of Cleigne**  
Kingdom **of Lucis**  
 **M.E. 771** _(8:00 p.m.)_

_**Cindy Aurum** \- 41, new owner and mechanic of Hammerhead Full Service Station_   
_**Iris Amicitia** \- 30, sub-commander of the Hunters_

Even though it was officially planned that Talcott, Ignis, and Prompto were sleeping over at my family home, Gladio, nevertheless, came by for a visit. He just had his dinner with his wife and Iris and that he left his wife and first-born to rest in Iris and Talcott’s apartment. He also mentioned that once his wife was finally retiring to bed that she would be stopping by also. In the meantime, Cindy also came by to visit for a short time, mainly because, much to everyone’s surprise, she wanted to see Prompto.

Thinking about it, Talcott and I smiled at the thought, that after all these several years of living, Prompto’s night had gone lucky when it was Cindy’s turn to wanting to meet him. We all had dinner, with Mom’s usual Lestallum-style home cooking that everyone I knew of truly loved. I was hoping Dad would be home, but he had to remain at Meldacio HQ to take care of the hunters’ network out there while Dave was back over there at the Crown City and would not be able to get home tonight. My older brother Nero and his newlywed wife are both hunters, and are also at the Meldacio HQ with Dad. My older sister Tamzin will be working overtime somewhere out in the fields along with her crew of engineers and technicians, making some adjustments on the newly-installed pylons so that the power from the meteorshards can further provide electricity throughout the entire country. Even the Crown City had huge benefits from receiving electricity EXINERIS-style, seeing that the crystal, from what I read anyway, was no longer in function.  
From every dish that Mom served for tonight’s dinner, there were even plenty of stories that Prompto shared regarding those said dishes. Although sometimes I find my heart breaking, Prompto seemed to be content and happy whenever he would recall special memories with his late best friend.

“Noct joked one time that once he finally takes the throne that he would ban beans from human consumption,” Prompto laughed. Mom made her signature pork and beans stew, which made him recall of a happy memory.

“Oh, that day would be an absolute tragedy if he actually have done that, Prompto,” Ignis sighed, even though I can tell that he was joking along.

Cindy chuckled as her reaction. “I remember Takka mentioning it to me one time that the prince oughta just pretend them beans were like meatballs or somethin’. Dang picky eater, that prince, y’know?”

“Aw yeah, that’s Noct for ya!” Prompto snickered. He then raised his glass of water up in the air. “We’re eating Lestallum-style pork and beans that Briony’s mom made in honor of you, Noct!”

“To you, Noct,” Gladio and Ignis raised their glasses of water as well. We eventually joined in the toast. Once we took a gulp of water, we never felt more refreshed. Still, the dinner continued.

It was relieving that Prompto lead the dinner talk and began talking about King Noctis. It made me feel awkward and uncomfortable whenever Mom would start babbling about Ignis, especially when he’s present. She still insisted that regardless of his blindness that it was really time for him to settle down and raise a family of his own. Still deeply loyal to the king, Ignis took the subject lightly. After all, how can a man be a proud married family man when he’s blind, you know?

It didn’t matter to me, I thought to myself. Ignis would still make a fine husband and father, blind or not. I can tell from his heart, and of course, his close friendship with young Talcott of the field that we’re working in. I was waiting for Gladio to introduce his wife to us, those who haven’t met her anyway, but from the sounds of it, the married couple weren’t exactly in good terms at the moment because of the ruckus back at the Crown City. Must be because he still planned on going back tomorrow.

“So, Prompto,” Cindy sipped her water. “I heard that you and your buddies are gonna be headin’ to Insomnia tomorrow.”

“Work-related, I’m afraid, Cindy,” Ignis replied instead. “We just needed Prompto for the visual documentation of all our findings.”

“Mm-hmm,” Cindy led out a smile. “I see. Gotta have them pictures, right?”

“This is a big one, Cindy,” Gladio joined the conversation. “Gotta have them pics, ain’t trustin’ nobody but Prompto, you know?”

“Well yeah, I bet,” Cindy grinned. “Say, I’m heading back to Hammerhead tomorrow myself. Paw-Paw’s coming with me too, said he wanted to visit them peeps over there, y’know? I don’t blame him. He hasn’t been back there for almost fifteen years since he moved here to Lestallum, but y’know, y’all gotta visit Hammerhead too. I don’t mean the full service station here, I’m talking about the newly-revived town.”

“Aw yeah, for sure, Cindy,” Prompto returned the grin. “I planned to go there one of these days so I can take photos of the newly-revived town version of Hammerhead!”

From what I’ve read in the historical records at the library, Hammerhead was once a thriving town that was also used as a popular rest area for motorists before they enter the Crown City, as well as Insomnians who are out to travel outside the city borders. The ages-old wars against Niflheim pretty much destroyed the old Hammerhead town some thirty years ago, but moments before King Regis ascended to the throne, Cid and his freshly-orphaned granddaughter Cindy built up their own new home and full service station from the old town ruins. Most of the Hammerhead townsfolk escaped to the Crown City when the Niffs came to break through, attempting to get through the gates.

“Oh, I got a fine idea just now!” Cindy exclaimed in excitement. “Y’see, I arrived here with my new custom-built converted camper bus. Why don’t we all travel together in that baby tomorrow, y’know?”

Gladio waved his hands. “Hey now, don’t wanna waste gas on your camper bus now, Cindy. I got a car and I can drive the Lestallum team there myself—”

“Shush, nonsense, Gladio,” Cindy held her head up high. “Y’know it’s a very long drive from Lestallum to Insomnia, y’all gonna have your rear ends stiff from sitting down. My camper’s gonna make sure y’all will have a smooth ride for some four hours and all. Might as well appreciate the good ol’ Lucian breeze and save some gas.”

“Aw, you’re so darn awfully nice, Cindy.” I can already see Prompto’s cheeks blushing. Even after all these years, he still has the hots for this grease monkey belle. “We’re gonna take turns driving though so you can also take a rest too.”

“Just as long as Prompto doesn’t end up driving,” Ignis responded, with Prompto raising an eyebrow at him.

“Hey, don’t be hatin’, Iggy, just cause ya can’t drive anymore, plus that was fifteen years ago. I think I’m capable of driving a car, thank you.”

“Now, now, settle down, boys,” Cindy chuckled. “We’ll work something out first thing in the morning, for sure. And besides, I know y’all got driver’s licenses, so we won’t have problems taking turns driving when needed.”

Right then, Mom got up from her seat. “I baked a special first-time dessert earlier today, so let’s all try some.”

“First time dessert?” I asked Mom curiously. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, first time I’ve baked something with these non-Lucian berries. Some restaurant owner named Tony was shopping around the market for some rare Cleignian spices for his restaurant menu. He couldn’t really offer any money in exchange, so instead, he was selling them berries in return. I forget what it was called, but you brought some of them home some nearly twenty years ago after your Glaive stint at Tenebrae, Briony.”

My eyes opened wide. “Ulwaat Berries? There’s a guy who sells those berries?”

We all took a bite of the Ulwaat berry cake gelatin dessert, which made us grin happily. I can already tell from his expression that Prompto has got another story to tell.

“Got another King Noctis story about this dessert, Prompto?” I heard Talcott ask in curiosity.

“Not about this dessert, but about the berries,” Prompto smiled. “I remember, the recess in high school, it was the first time I’ve tasted those yummy pastries Noct brought along with him while he was studying. He didn’t mention much about it until years later when he started mentioning about those pastries again at Galdin Quay. Iggy sure did a kick-ass job remaking that pastry.”

I noticed Iggy glinting a smile. “Such sweet memories indeed, Prompto. It was because of that bloody Tenebraen pastry that eventually got me interested in the culinary arts.”

“Oooh!” I heard Mom shriek in excitement. “Then, you should come over here again and show us how to bake those pastries! If they were that delicious, they truly must fit only for royalty, you know?”

“Mom…” I was about to calm her excitement down to save ourselves from embarrassment when Ignis responded.

“I would love to, Mrs. Pacem. I may probably not be able to bake those pastries anymore with my own hands, but I still memorize the recipe.”

“Well then! And while you’re at it, you can even teach my Briony how to cook her own dishes. I’ve tried myself, I bet you’re a better teacher than I would be!”

“Mom!” I shrieked to keep her down. I knew immediately that this was going to happen, and not only in front of Ignis, I can even see the grinning smiles of Prompto, Gladio, and Talcott gazing right at me.

“Ah, but Briony is a busy lady,” Ignis instead made this reply. “But I will definitely remember that appointment. I’ll let you know when I’ll be available.”

“Say Iggy, would that include—” Just before Prompto began the tease fest, I stood up from my seat and interrupted him.

“Is everyone finished now? Let’s clean up!”

“Ah yes,” Ignis stood up as well. “Shall we?”

 

  
**Pacem Family Residence (Kitchen)**  
 **Lestallum, Province of Cleigne**  
Kingdom **of Lucis**  
 **M.E. 771** (9:00 p.m.)

I washed the dishes manually with your plain dishwashing soap and sponge and latex gloves while letting the washed dishes drip dry on the rack. Mom was already helping out the boys in setting up the beds in the extra bedrooms that used to belong to Nero and Tamzin. Meldacio HQ pretty much became Nero’s and his wife’s new home. Tamzin also lives in another townhouse in another area of Lestallum with her husband. Sometimes, it felt lonely being in our family home with just my parents and myself. Still, I feel blessed that I have these new friends who decided to settle down here in Lestallum despite that Insomnia is now completely liberated of the Starscourge five years ago.

Cindy had asked Prompto to have a small chat outside the home. I could see a bit of them talking through the window of my kitchen. I didn’t want to get myself distracted or I may break some of the dishes from doing so, but I couldn’t help myself but get curious about their reactions. It seemed that the two were having a ball with their chats, smiling and laughing along the way. There were a few sad expressions too, mainly coming from Prompto, with Cindy patting the blonde photographer, comforting him with whatever it was that made him sad at that time.

Moments later, as I continued washing, I heard a knock on the wall nearby. I turned my head and found my eyes widening.

“Oh, Ignis!” I exclaimed, trying to make myself sound excited just to see him.

“Your mother mentioned that I may find you here.” Ignis slowly paced, using his walking stick to guide him on his way. He found his spot at the adjacent counter, where he leaned against it comfortably. Now he was standing adjacent to where I was standing, which got me rather flushed.

This was the man whom I fell in love, at first sight, some twenty years ago. Even though we’ve met and got to know each other briefly, I never really forgotten about him, especially during my intel mission at Tenebrae that got me away from Lucis and all the people so dear to me. We did not see each other then until the Long Night was gradually arriving, and that I saw him again the first time when he arrived at Lestallum, looking for a training partner. I wanted to cry right then when I learned that he lost his eyesight. I cried, even more, when I remembered him after losing some of my memories since the downfall of Insomnia.

My heart back then just couldn’t stop beating for the sight of him. Hearing his voice even got me a lot weaker. But because of his blindness, he would never know how I would look like or how I would react when I see him. I hoped that his mentioning of getting treatment from the Crown City as Gladio suggested was serious and that he would make an effort to gain his eyesight again. On the other hand, I felt an aura around him that told me that his heart was completely shut. I knew he had no time for any type of social life, as he devoted himself to serving the king. Now that King Noctis and the entire Lucis Caelum line have ended five years ago, no one, not even Gladio and Prompto, really knows what Ignis’ plans are aside from being part of the archives department staff at the Lestallum Library.

Even though he’s blind, I still couldn’t find myself strong enough to look at him.

“But… what are you doing here, Ignis? I thought you were preparing your things in the rooms?” I asked curiously regarding his presence in the kitchen.

“I’ve taken a shower myself and let Prompto unpack a few things for me while I was at it,” he said. “Your mother insisted that we can use both rooms, but I also insisted that we will use your older brother’s former room for all four of us. Gladio also mentions that the room is big enough for all four of us there.”

I faced away from Ignis so I can concentrate on the dishes, even though I already knew that he won’t be able to see my facial expression. “Is… is there anything you need? Maybe some tea?”

“Ah, yes. A cup of tea would be wonderful,” he answered as politely as he always was. “However, I shall wait until you are finished with the dishes.”

“O-oh! No worries about me,” I muttered nervously. “I can take a break from the dishes and make you the tea.”

“There is no rush, Briony, I insist. Besides, I…” He trailed off for a few moments, then continued. “I… I wanted to talk to you… about… a few things.”

“Oh? Um… alright then.” I felt a slight blush on my face, finding my head lowering right towards the faucet water. “What is it about? If it’s about me, you know how I am, dedicated to the work and preserving the history and legacy of Lucis. I… I don’t really have the time to—”

“Well, you could say, yes, it is about you,” Ignis answered right then. “But, not you today. I wanted to know… about you from twenty years ago.”

I found my eyes blinking in curiosity. “Me… from twenty years ago?”

“You’ve never really… told me… or anyone else… about how your life was… since you left Lucis for your first duty as a Glaive.”

I found myself speechless. After all these years, I thought, why ask me about my life twenty years ago, and of all people, coming from you, Ignis?

“Well… it’s been way too long… way too many stories to tell… and I was gathering intel and other various covert missions in Tenebrae for almost four years over there… I don’t know which stories you want me to share with you…”

Ignis lifted his head, then let out a sigh. “I… I want to believe everything, Briony. I want to believe about the content that was omitted from the Cosmogony. All those passages from those notebooks Talcott read to us earlier at the library. I know I may have sounded like a doubter because of those words tall tales, but… this Paeoniae Exercitu ad Regem Regum… I truly, want to believe. I want to connect everything together from all our experiences. I know that we have met… you and the four of us including the Chosen King… those twenty years ago.”

Just as I finished placing the clean dishes on the rack, I turned off the faucet and slowly turned my face right to him. “The four of you including the Chosen King? What exactly do you mean?”

Ignis did not answer right away. Moments later, he found the right words to say. “I must apologize. Maybe… maybe you are still recovering your memories from fifteen years ago… about the memory loss you and may Glaives suffered after Libertus and others gathered all of you at Lestallum then…”

“I… I don’t know, maybe…” I whispered, with my head lowered. I placed the latex gloves hanging on the edge of the sink, then found myself standing next to him. “Maybe I have forgotten… or just never realized…”

“Prompto has brought photos from those years ago along with the photos Noct have taken himself also. I’m very sure that he has a photo of you as a young Glaive trainee.”

I stared at him, trying to recall the time that I actually met these guys way before we met at Lestallum fifteen years ago. “How would Prompto have a photo of me?”

“I’m sure Prompto will show you those photos. Maybe they can help you recover more of your lost memories.”

I stood up straight. “We’ve got a lot to cover tonight, Ignis. The third notebook, we need to check that out, and then we have to pack some things for tomorrow’s… sewage expedition to the Citadel.”

“Then, perhaps serving a nice kettle of tea should suffice tonight?”

I wanted to chuckle after hearing him say that. “Wait for me in your room, Ignis. Let the boys know that I’m coming in with a tray of tea.”

“Oh, they’re grown men. They can expect surprises.” I giggled and then began to prepare tea. Once I began boiling water, he continued. “Would you like me to assist—”

“I’m fine, Ignis. You don’t want to burn your hands, good sir.”

“Ah, you always worry about me on these simple domestic things, I must say. You… Talcott… even Gladio and Prompto.” He was right, I thought. I just couldn’t help it after all. “I’ll be alright.”

I took a deep breath. “Ignis, if you say so…” I asked him to prepare the teacups for a safer help. He had been in our family kitchen before many times that he already knew exactly where everything was located.

“Ah, found them.” I watched him open the cupboard, began to inspect the inside carefully and slowly with his fingers to be sure he knew what he was reaching out for. While waiting for the water to boil, I found my heart delighted just to see him right in front of me. He didn’t even have to do anything just to get my attention, and yet he was working carefully in setting up the teacups.

Just as I found myself being unaware of my surroundings, I gasped when Ignis turned his head in my direction.

“Why do I get the feeling that you are watching me?”

I bit my lip and covered my cheeks. “I… I wasn’t. Well, just a few glimpses…”

“I’ll be alright, Briony. You worry too much about me, I’m afraid.” Not quite exactly why I was watching him, but that was a good cover.

“I can’t help it, Ignis.”

Once he brought the teacups out of the cupboard, he placed them on the counter and then sighed. “I… I don’t blame you, Briony. We all can’t help it but worry about the people who are vulnerable and truly care so much.”

“I… I agree.”

“I was a worrywart myself, therefore I shouldn’t sound like a hypocrite.”

“A worrywart? You?”

“For Noct, Briony. For our beloved Chosen King.” I remained silent because I had no words to say about his thoughts about the king. Five years after, his heart still remains loyal to him. I think those whom the king encountered, even for just a few moments, will always have their hearts loyal to him.

Even my own heart, as a former Glaive and now an archivist, continued to be loyal to him.

“The King… Noct… must have been very lucky to have a true friend like you worrying about him,” I answered him.

“Actually, he was quite annoyed with all my worrying, truthfully speaking.” Right then, the both of us chuckled at the memory of King Noctis sounding annoyed with Ignis’ worrying. It was sometimes hard to picture him but then again, Ignis, Gladio, Prompto, even Talcott, knew King Noctis more than I did.

“You worry, not because of his destiny, but because you love him. Generally speaking, of course.”

Ignis showed a light smile and nodded. “We all loved him. Very much. Generally speaking.”

“Sometimes I get a little jealous of you guys,” I changed the subject a bit. “I get jealous of Cindy, of Iris, even Aranea… but most of all, jealous of the Oracle too.”

“Oh? Did you fancy Noct?”

I gasped quickly. “Not like that, Ignis, I meant I’m jealous of those girls because they got to know him a lot longer than I did!”

Ignis laughed quietly. “You’d be surprised once you see Prompto’s old photographs.” He placed the teacups and the saucers on the tray when I heard the whistling of the kettle. I prepared the tea kettle and placed select tea leaves and other ingredients inside. I placed the kettle on the tray along with the cups. Then, I began to carry the tray.

Much to my surprise, I felt Ignis’ arm slip around my left. “Do you need me to guide you, Ignis?”

“I think it’s just much easier if I’m being led to our destination. I’m quite tired a bit.”

“Very well, Sir. Please, hold on.” I let him wrap his arm around mine as we slowly walked together out of the kitchen.

Just as we were about to reach the stairs, we see a happy and excited Prompto dashing right inside the door and closing the door behind him. He had a huge grin on his face and a small piece of paper in his hand.

“Is that Prompto I hear gasping for joy?” Ignis immediately detected the very soft chuckles coming from the photographer.

“Yes! Yes!” Prompto cheered happily, gently kissing the piece of paper in his hand. “It’s been way too long, but we’re getting somewhere!”

I smiled in delight. “Cindy?”

“Ah, she is such a gentle soul,” Prompto grinned, resting himself against the door. “Man, if this were some fifteen years ago, I’d shove it at Gladio, but it’s not fun anymore because he got married first.”

“Hey, leave the big guy alone,” I teased him. “So, I’m not gonna ask what happened between the two of you but obviously, from the looks of your face, something exciting just happened between you two!”

Prompto quickly unfolded the paper, showing it at Ignis and me. “What on earth are you doing, Prompto?”

“Showing you this little piece of paper, of course!” Prompto grinned.

“You do realize I only see darkness, right, Prompto?” Ignis reminded him of his blindness, once again.

“Oh, right, my bad,” Prompto sighed, but still grinned. “She gave me her phone number, and we just set up our very first date that’s gonna take place later this weekend at Galdin Quay!”

“Whoa, Galdin Quay?” I gasped, seriously in excitement. “Ooh, fancy!”

“I know, right?” Prompto grinned. “I’ll tell you the rest later. I’m beat.” He turned right at me and suddenly grabbed the tea tray from me. “I feel so motivated right now you won’t believe it. I’ll carry this tea tray for you two lovebirds.”

“Prompto—” Ignis was about to call him out in protest when I interrupted quickly.

“Aw, Ignis, leave the poor man in love alone. He’s in love, so now he’s seeing everyone else being in love too!”

“It’s rather difficult for someone like me to determine if Prompto was joking or not.”

“That’s why you oughta take Gladio’s advice earlier, Iggy,” Prompto nodded along. “Why you gotta remain blind, now that the world is safe from the daemons now?”

Ignis sighed deeply, with me changing the subject. “Here, let’s bring the tea tray to your room, Prompto.”

“Okie dokie!”

 

**Pacem Family Residence (The boys’ bedroom)**  
 **Lestallum, Province of Cleigne**  
Kingdom **of Lucis**  
 **M.E. 771** _(9:20 p.m.)_

When we got to their room, Talcott was already at work, laptop, papers, and even the Cosmogony draft notebooks that I handed to him, right at the freshly-vacuumed carpeted floor. It looks like Prompto also handed the third notebook to him. Gladio was at the balcony of our apartment, just enjoying the night view and listening to more musical buskers singing their songs right outside.

We didn’t want to disturb him, even though we really couldn’t see how his face looked like at that hour. Rather, some of us have noticed that the songs being sung by these street corner buskers were beginning to have some kind of a common theme. Coincidence? At the moment, we hear a group of girl singers singing a rendition of a familiar cute tune about stars.

_Twinkle, twinkle, little star_  
 _How I wonder where you are_  
 _Wish I_ may, _wish I might_  
 _Make this wish come true tonight_  
 _Searched all over for a love_  
 _You’re the one I’m thinking of_

This morning, we heard a few songs talking about how time is on our side. Tonight, we now hear about people looking up at the stars, reaching out to them, trying to communicate with them, and share them their hopes and wishes for a better future. Something like that. The expressions on the boys’ faces almost made me sad right then.

“He is the brightest of all the stars up in the sky,” Ignis murmured in a soft whisper. “That’s what the Cosmogony says. He… and his true love… rule over the stars… together.”

“Correction,” Talcott sighed. “The current edition of the Cosmogony says that. The notebooks are saying something different from that.”

Ignis raised an eyebrow. “How is that, Talcott?”

“In one of the omitted passages in the last few pages of the second notebook, one passage said, on the day the Starscourge finally ends, both the Chosen King and his beloved Oracle shall rule all, with a unique moment of these true rulers in flesh to the eyes of their beloved people and through the gods. The chosen seven shall guide fulfilling this true destiny through time. No death and sadness can ever replace the fates of the two, as light is always meant to mean everlasting life.”

Prompto and I scooted closer to Talcott, where he was already pointing the crossed out passage second to the last page. There was also a side note written on the side as well. I read it aloud so Ignis can hear it.

“The chosen seven? Wonder what that means,” Prompto rubbed his chin.

“If only Noct were here right now, he might know more about the history of the Astral Six. Maybe there was a seventh astral we weren’t aware of,” Ignis made a guess. “After all, he did take on that strangely hidden dungeon known as the Pitioss Ruins.”

“Pitioss Ruins?” I blinked my eyes with surprise. Throughout Cleigne, there was a folk tale about a place called Pitioss, in which those who make their first steps will be completely lost and warped through its challenging, mind-boggling puzzles, while at the same time, also tells a hidden tale. The Pitioss folk tale said that no one dies just being there, however, the entire place is more than enough for any normal human to go insane. Insanity hurts more than death, I guess.

“Yeah. We overheard it one night here at Lestallum, from some dudes who used to be thieves or something. I remember,” Prompto brought up another memory. “Noct decided to check out the place and see if it exists, and guess what.”

“It exists… or existed…” I muttered my words in surprise. “So, that folk tale wasn’t just a tale…”

“Funny thing is, Noct was the only one who was able to get in,” Gladio shrugged his shoulders. “We didn’t ask him much about it, but he did say that the place made him pretty much close to being insane. But he did say that there was a story behind those challenging puzzles.”

“About Pitioss and why it exists?” I asked curiously.

“Not quite. He mentioned something about the Astral Six. There were statues and representations of the Astral Six and other important figures. But unfortunately, he never really connected the dots together,” Ignis recalled from their past days regarding the not-so-mythical Pitioss Ruins. “On the other hand, Noct isn’t exactly the puzzles type of person.”

“Let me guess,” I smirked. “You had to figure everything out for him with stuff like that, Ignis?” The blind former royal adviser just sighed right then. Going back on subject, I looked right at the notebook again.

“’See ‘tall tales.’ This concluded passage is based on a well-known Lestallum folk song sung by the folks since the beginning of time, so they say.’” Right then, I found myself blanking out, knowing that my hometown has plenty of folk songs to sing. And like any other Lestallian, I know almost all of them.

“Say,” I heard Prompto break his silence, “Brio, you’re the native Lestallian here, which folk song is it?”

“I’m gonna have to go through all fifty of them to figure out which folk song they’re talking about in that passage,” I reminded him.

“Fifty? Damn, that’s a lot of folk songs! Just look for the words _chosen king_ and oracle in the lyrics, that should be your song.”

“Prompto, we don’t have a folk song that mentions those two words you gave me,” I raised an eyebrow.

“Maybe it’s one of those subliminal songs,” Talcott rubbed his chin. “You know, like allegories, metaphors, stuff like that.”

“You Lestallum folk be singin’ too much,” we heard Gladio shout out at us from the outside balcony.

“Is there something wrong with singing too much, Gladio?” I heard Ignis make his remark.

“Didn’t say that Iggy,” Gladio defended himself. Just as he was about to continue, he heard a voice echoing from outside, calling out right at him.

“Sir, you in the black tank up the balcony! Yeah, you!” I watched Gladio turn towards the balcony, looking down.

“Yeah? You talkin’ to me?”

“Sir, it’s a beautiful night and you look lonely. How’s about we cheer you up?” We heard a young man’s voice offering a song to the big man.

“Lonely? Nah, but hey, a song would be nice. You’re right though, the night’s really nice tonight.”

“Yup. Got a song in mind you want my boys and I perform?”

Quickly, Prompto got up and headed outside to the balcony, standing next to Prompto and waved at the busking band of five young men at the corner just across from where the two were standing. He called out to them. “How’s about a Lestallum folk song, dudes? Haven’t heard one in a while now!”

I stood up also, heading my way outside. Talcott and eventually Ignis followed me from behind. We leaned against the balcony to watch the band about to serenade at us.

“The good blonde sir wants a folk song, boys! Got a particular one?”

“Nah, whatever folk song ya got in mind?” Prompto grinned.

“Sure thing. I’ll talk with my boys, hang on.” I looked down at the band huddling together, with Gladio scratching the side of the temple.

“You know, if this were the Crown City, those boys are gonna be arrested for disturbing the peace,” Gladio mentioned.

“But this is Lestallum, big guy,” Prompto added. “That’s the charm of this town. Everyone sings like there’s nobody there, and it does give a nice, musical feeling to the humid night, you know?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Right then, the leader of the band turned to us and waved. “We got one for ya. Please, listen.”

“Stage all yours, dudes!” Prompto grinned.

The soft strum of the acoustic guitar began its first note, and then everyone began to join in. The leader of the band began to sing this familiar folk song. Somehow, the instrumental they were playing was tempting me to sing along too.

_Seven stars, seven stars_  
 _Where, oh where_ is _the light and the flower_  
 _That sweet, blue flower_  
 _They were here, they were here_  
 _Just a moment in our eyes_  
 _Now they’re gone, they’re gone_  
 _Oh no, they are gone_

_Seven stars, seven stars_   
_Why did you let them go?_   
_The light may have returned_   
_But the world cannot rest_   
_Now they’re gone, they’re gone_   
_Oh no, they are gone_

The young man sang the song beautifully that the tune itself really did tempt me to sing along. Without even realizing it, I even began to sing along.

_Seven stars, my seven stars_   
_You have shone up the sky_   
_Watching the light,_   
_Watching the flower,_   
_But now, they are gone_

_Seven stars, oh seven stars_   
_The light has returned_   
_Blue flowers have bloomed_   
_And yet, there are tears in our eyes_

_Seven stars, seven stars_   
_Time is on our side_   
_Bring back the light_   
_As well as the blue flower_   
_They won’t be gone, won’t be gone_   
_Yes, they won’t be gone_

There was an instrumental break, with me humming along with the tune. Right then, Talcott tapped me on the shoulder and then flashed a page from the third notebook. He pointed right at the page as I quickly read it. The heading on the top of the page was written Seven Stars and right at the bottom are lyrics. I couldn’t say much at the moment, but Prompto suggested we sing the rest of the song together with the band.

_I call to you, oh seven stars_   
_You altogether will side with time_   
_Bring back the light,_   
_Bring back the flower_   
_And all the darkness and sadness_   
_Will be gone, will be gone_   
_Yes, they will be gone_

Just as the song ended, we all applauded for their performance. The band bowed in thanks. The band leader waved at us again.

“Thanks for letting us sing our last song of the night to you all. You all take care and have a good night!” We also bid our goodnight to the band, as they began packing up their instruments.

We went back inside the room, with Talcott placing the opened third notebook on the floor. “Looks like we found the folk song that crossed out passage was derived from.”

We all gathered together around the papers, with Talcott taking notes. He began to make his first analysis. “Seven stars must be referring to the chosen seven in the crossed out passage. I don’t know exactly what the seven means. It’s easy to say the six astrals including Ifrit, but then it’d be hard to connect Ifrit to the rest of what was said in the Cosmogony.”

“Hm,” Ignis joined in the analysis. “Light and flower…”

“Light and a blue flower,” Prompto corrected Ignis with the missing color.

“Ah yes, blue flower,” Ignis stood corrected. “Light must be referring to Lucis, since our kingdom’s name is translated as ‘light.’”

“Or it could mean that they’re referring to the representative of Lucis, the Chosen King,” I pointed out my thoughts regarding the symbolism.

“And the blue flower must be referring to the sylleblossom, the national flower of Tenebrae,” Ignis added.

“Oh, the song must be talking about Noct and Lunafreya, right?” Prompto blinked.

“From some 2000-year-old Lestallum folk song already existing before the rest of us have? Very unlikely,” Ignis crossed his arms.

“But it still fits, you know? Why, who else was the Chosen King and the Oracle before Noct and Lunafreya?”

“Ardyn,” Talcott frowned. “I don’t know about the Oracle from 2000 years ago though.”

“Well damn, that doesn’t fit at all,” Prompto sighed.

“I noticed the folk song sounded like it was blaming these seven stars— the Chosen Seven— for letting the light and the blue flower go,” Talcott continued. “Go where?”

“It ain’t the Astral Six,” Gladio made his first statement then. “For sure there ain’t a seventh astral or whatever the hell that is… unless that’s what that third notebook says? Besides, no idiot human in Eos, unless if you’re a Niff, would ever blame the gods for screwing everything up with what’s happening in Eos. They’d get punished at Angelgard for making false accusations like that.”

Talcott wrote the words _Seven Stars = “Chosen Seven” = ?_ on his notebook, seeing we don’t know what these seven really mean. We may have to read through the tall tales notebook to find some sort of clues. Right then, he pointed out another word that stood out from the lyrics.

“The words side of time also appeared many times in the song too. The word time also appeared in this crossed out passage once. It’s like… it’s saying that the only way to bring back the light and the blue flower is time.” Talcott rested himself against the bed, sighing. “I’m probably mumbling right now, I’m tired.”

“Now that’s just funny,” Prompto held himself from laughing. “The only way to bring back the light and the blue flower is time. Like are we supposed to travel to…” Right then, he began to trail off from his words.

“Prompto? What is it?” I asked curiously, knowing that something else came to his mind.

“Travel… through… time?” Prompto began to mutter those words, which also made Gladio and Ignis wince right away.

“Of course…” Ignis gasped in surprise. “We did travel through time a few times… why didn’t I realize this before?”

“No way,” Gladio blinked his eyes. “When we did travel through time to prepare ourselves for the future battles then… Noct would call out Umbra. The mutt would show up, then next thing we know, we’re back some several years back. Ten years back even. Maybe even longer.”

“Then, what happened to Umbra?” Prompto gasped, standing up with a panicked face. “When was the last time we saw Umbra anyway?”

“Hammerhead, five years ago,” Gladio began to recall his own memories. “He was there in Hammerhead. He was with Noct and Talcott when they arrived back to Hammerhead. He was right there next to all of us. He went with us too, from our last camping through the infested lands of the Crown City. However, he stayed with us when Noct…”

“Umbra?” I blinked my eyes, remembering that spitz-like dark brown dog with a keen sense during our battles throughout those ten years. “He was with us, too. I mean the Glaives, when we had to fight the daemons and protect Angelgard from getting invaded since we were forgiven by Bahamut for the sins of our past comrades. Since then, for the last ten years, Umbra, along with Gentiana, guided us all the way.” I paused for a few moments, then lifted my head. “I never knew Umbra had the power to teleport people through time…”

“That’s… that’s just… scary…” Talcott muttered, sighing. “Umbra went with Noct heading back to Galdin Quay, I remember you telling me that, Briony.”

“Yeah. We prepared the vessel for him, and when King Noctis took off, Umbra went with him,” I began recalling my last night at Angelgard and with the king. Crystal clear, the dog Umbra sailed along with him back to Galdin Quay. “That was the last time I saw the pup.”

“I was just making my rounds to one of the havens at that time when I saw someone running at the streets along with the dog. My heart leaped so hard that I knew that was the king. I’m so glad I listened to my own gut that time.” Talcott bit his lip, as I can see that tears were about to form in his eyes.

“Man,” Prompto sighed deeply. “Where did Umbra go? I don’t think he died because he was there with us when we had to fend off the daemons from entering the throne room, remember?”

“If only it’d be easy to call on Umbra right now,” Talcott sighed in a low, sad tone, already wiping one of his eyes. “I may be the kid of the group but I really miss Prince Noctis… King Noctis… well, you know… His Majesty the King.”

“The problem is, only Noct is able to communicate with Umbra,” Ignis made his usual fact. “The only other person who can communicate with Umbra was Lunafreya. After all, Umbra was the messenger between the two when they were apart at that time.”

“And that’d do no good with both Noct and Lunafreya gone,” Prompto frowned in sadness. “Why did Umbra have to disappear like that? How on earth are we going to call him so he can send us back in time to… you know… save them?”

“We don’t even know what the chosen seven means yet, Prompto,” Talcott reminded him.

“Screw the seven, man! I blame them too!” Prompto frowned, with Gladio patting him on the shoulder.

“Hey, chill, Prompto,” Gladio hushed him, as he began his own speech towards us. “Look, I know it’s been five years and even though that’s a long time already, none of us can ever get over what happened back at the Crown City. But if you think about it, all five of us here have taken part in that final battle. The five of us, even Iris, and we also have to thank Libertus for gathering all the remaining Glaives together and turned on the lights throughout Lucis from EXINERIS then. We all played a part together. Even though this may sound like a failure to us because we lost Noct, just to get rid of the daemons, in many ways, we all have succeeded.”

“In restoring the light, anyhow,” Ignis joined in. “But, salvation-wise? That did not happen at all.”

We fell silent again, with Talcott looking through the final page of the second notebook and then opening the tall tales third notebook. He skimmed the pages and found that there were several bookmark ties segregated by Lucian province. It was also in alphabetical order too: Cavaugh, Cleigne, Duscae, Galahd, and Leide.

“I’m tempted,” Talcott sighed. “I can’t wait to read and analyze all these tall tales, but I know it’ll take more than just one night to come up with direct conclusions.”

“So, where do we start? Good ol’ Cavaugh?” Prompto asked curiously. “Has to be Cavaugh. The Crown City is located in that province after all.”

“Except for Briony, the rest of us are from the Crown City,” Ignis indicated. “Please read it aloud, Talcott.”

We waited for Talcott to read the story, sipping his tea to clear his throat. “Alright, here goes.”

_NOTETAKER’S SIDENOTE: These series of interviews are actually a series of dreams of one of the two sons of the 20th King of Lucis, Valerian Lucis Caelum XX. Prince Drake, the younger, may not be the next in line to the throne, however, he had also been kept watch by the royal servants and a few doctors and soothsayers since he was born. His Royal Highness Prince Drake had been reported by those same servants that he may possibly have special powers that enable him to foresee the future. These interview accounts, a total of 10, was jotted down on this notebook altogether after the unfortunate death of the poor prince from a hunting accident. Prince Drake was only fifteen when he was killed by a local beast during the royal family’s vacation in_ Galahd _._

“Oh…” I sighed sadly. “Poor young prince…”

“That’s just unfortunate,” Ignis sighed in the same tone.

“Aww, poor kid,” Prompto pouted. “I hope his entire account would at least tell us something.

“The note was written some four years after the interview with Prince Drake,” Talcott stated a fact from the note he read.

“At least he wasn’t the heir to the throne then,” Gladio frowned. “Not trying to sound rude and all.”

Talcott continued on with the reading. “Well, here is Prince Drake’s account of his dream. Here goes.”

_Last night, I have seen a gullible-looking but_ quite _good-looking handsome young man at an open grassy field. Right across from him was a beautiful lady in white, reaching out to him. However, there was a barrier. A barrier unbroken that the two were not able to reach for one another. Next thing I knew, the Astral Six has called upon the two. An ancestor, one who called himself Bahamut, declared that only the powers of the two combined shall break this barrier and peace and prosperity will return to their peoples throughout all Eos. However, Bahamut also mentioned that the only way for them to combine their powers together and break the barrier was to wait for something called the Chosen Seven. When the Chosen Seven finally arrives in their lives, with the power of time, all nine of them together shall finally destroy that barrier that separates two sides_ from _each other._

_Both asked what he meant, but said nothing afterward. I continued on thinking and analyzing about this myself, but instead, I found no conclusion to what all of these dreams meant._

_I wanted to tell my father, my mother, my older brother, of all these series of dreams that I’m having, but no one, not even the servants, would believe me. I don’t know anything about dreams, but I don’t think one person having these series of similar dreams meant that he was mentally insane. I know what I saw and that is what I’m testifying. This is why I’m turning to you, kind Sir. No one else will listen, but I know you, as a publisher of great books, will listen. I want to reach out to that young man and woman and give them my own message to them. I wish I knew who they were, and why those particular two appeared in my dreams._

_I’ll be sure to reach out to you again if I do get another strange dream related to this again. Thank you for your time._

The account sounded too broad, and even though this was a personal account of a member of the royal Lucis Caelum line, there had to be more than just that passage. Talcott flipped the pages, all the way to the last page of the Cavaugh section. He turned back to the second passage after he read the first one and skimmed through again.

“The interviews were kind of repetitive, except they were having some detail. At the fifth and sixth interview, three more figures included in his dream.”

“Three figures?” I wondered. “Could it be representatives of Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto?”

Prompto gasped. “What? We’re in it?”

Talcott shook his head. “Not you guys, Prompto. From the description of it, it sounded like Gentiana, Pryna, and Umbra. According to the fifth one, two dogs appeared, guarding the lady in white. In the sixth interview, a mysterious lady in black, gold, and white stood not too far away behind the lady in white.”

“Well damn,” Prompto sighed. “Is there any more? I mean, you said there were ten interviews?”

“Just a second.” Talcott went through the rest of the interviews slowly. “The details aren’t that important, more like scenery. Still the same scenario and still the same five figures present in that dream.”

“Why does it sound like Cavaugh don’t have any tall tales to share?” Gladio rubbed his chin.

“Do you happen to know any folk tales originally from the Crown City, or at least Cavaugh?” Ignis asked curiously.

“Uh, no.” Gladio scratched his head. “Not that I know of. Look, my family ain’t all about tall tales, man.”

“Well, you just answered your own question, Gladio,” Ignis said.

I turned to both Prompto and Talcott. “What about you guys?”

“Not me!” Prompto shrugged his shoulders. Talcott only responded with his head shaking. The intern continued to skim through the interview passages until he found something that caught his eye.

“Wait,” Talcott gasped. “Interview number eight: Prince Drake speaks with the young man for the first time.”

“Well? Go ahead and read it,” Gladio gasped with excitement.

“Hold your horses, Gladio. I’m about to.” We waited patiently until he began to read it out loud.

_Last night’s dream had become a game changer. After being just a witness to these repetitive dreams, the young man turned his naive face right at me. His eyes widened, as did mine. I almost ran away when the young man approached me closer. I didn’t know where to run and hide and I decided to take the risk of speaking to him._

_“You’ve been watching me all this time,” he said to me. “Who are you?”_

_I introduced myself as a prince of Lucis. Not the next in line to the throne of Lucis, but mentioned that my older brother, no names mentioned, was the next in line. I was being cautious with my identity with this stranger of my dreams. Much to my surprise, he also introduced himself with a revelation I did not expect._

_“We must be related,” the young man told me. “I’m a prince of Lucis too.” I figured that maybe he was a distant cousin or something, knowing that the Lucis Caelum Dynasty is very vast and diverse. My immediate family, of course, is destined line to rule, but he also added that his father is the current king of Lucis._

_That couldn’t be, I said to him. “Valerian Lucis Caelum XX is the current king.”_

_The young man fell silent when I mentioned my father’s name. From his expression, he was thinking really hard, finding the right answer. Moments later, another revelation struck right at me._

_“One of my ancestors is named Sabinian. Sabinian Lucis Caelum XXI. One of my history tutors shared with me that he was the first king in our ancestry who was bestowed upon the powers to travel and possibly manipulate time.”_

_I found myself falling down on my knees. No one was supposed to know my brother Sabinian’s true secret. The royal soothsayers have prophesied that Sabinian was born with the powers to travel and manipulate time. I, on the other hand, was born to foresee the future. Whatever it is that I may foresee would be reason enough for Sabinian to use his powers to prevent this foreseen future from happening for whatever reason, but so far as of this interview, none of that has happened._

_This particular dream and this conversation with this young man proved it. I am of the present and the young man was that of the future. His father is a king of Lucis, but he never mentioned if he was the heir to the throne._

_I did not dare ask him. Instead, he bombarded me with questions, wondering why I appeared, why I was watching from behind and not say or do anything, and why I wouldn’t help him break the barrier so he can reach to his true love. His true love must be the lady in white. I wish I knew the answer to that question, however, his eyes looked like tears were about to shed from his eyes. I wanted to just embrace the young man, my future descendant nephew, in my arms. However, right then, the dream ended._

_I don’t know what to make of this. The dreams are becoming a lot stranger and stranger. I need to find a much powerful soothsayer to interpret these dreams. Sabinian is the only one who actually listens to me and my dreams. The rest at t_ _he palace, including my own father, are already seeing me as being mentally insane. Is that even fair to consider a royal being mentally insane?_

_I also hope you don’t think of me as being mentally insane._

“Well,” Ignis rubbed his chin. “I have read about the 21st King of Lucis, Sabinian Lucis Caelum XXI. I thought it was just a tall tale within the Citadel palace walls about him. From Prince Drake’s account, this so-called palace tall tale was real after all.”

“What was considered a tall tale?” I asked. “The existence of King Sabinian or the fact that King Sabinian was born with the power to travel and manipulate time?”

“The latter, Briony. Everyone in the Citadel knows, even King Regis and Noct, knew about King Sabinian existing. After all, he was the twenty-first among all 114 monarchs, correct? He was one of the greatest kings that ever lived, it said. I believe Sabinian was also one of the thirteen.”

“Thirteen?” Prompto asked.

“One of the kings that possessed one of the Royal Arms,” Talcott answered for Ignis. “I’m not sure which one of the thirteen is him though.”

Ignis shook his head. “It was recorded in various ancient documents stored at the Citadel Royal Library that King Sabinian was one of the wielders of the Thirteen Royal Arms Noct had to search and reclaim fifteen years ago.”

“Did that King Sabinian travel through time?” Prompto’s curiosity peaked. I’d like to know that too if there was an account about that.

“No one knows. Not even the ancient documents and history books ever mentioned that King Sabinian even traveled through time. There were a few accounts that he did a lot of traveling, wandering around all of Eos. It must be his way of getting over his sadness and grief over the loss of his father and brother. Maybe the interviews in the notebook would mention about it?”

“I’m on it,” Talcott nodded and turned to the ninth interview with Prince Drake. “Hm, the ninth interview was dated four months right after the eighth interview, but I’ll read it anyhow.”

_I apologize for canceling our interviews for the last four months. My father had been gravely ill and Sabinian was already going through intense training, being groomed to be the next king. I was there along with him throughout his training period as a mere supporter and adviser. Randomly, I have been seeing visions of what may happen in the future. One of them can possibly be my own death._

_One thing’s for sure, I will not be present when Sabinian is crowned king. But I also foresaw that Sabinian postponed his coronation for about a year because of my impending death. I died shortly after my father did. But, let’s not talk about morbid things like that. I have to share with you the continuation of my past dream from the previous interview._

_A god’s voice spoke_ through _me. He mentioned that there will be a destined seven who will break the barrier between two destined individuals. Even though now is a very peaceful period, the event known as the Starscourge is slowly rising. The Starscourge was already happening, even though no one around Eos has ever noticed. Daemons will be on the rise, countless of them, and if the Chosen Seven does not appear to break this mysterious barrier, a sacrifice must be made to end it. I didn’t know what that voice meant by sacrifice, but I didn’t want to mention anything about it._

_“There is a rising event in which daemons will rule over our land,” I warned the young man. “An event_ only known _as the Starscourge. A sacrifice must be made if the Chosen Seven does not appear to help you break this barrier. I don’t know all the details, but that was all I was told.”_

_The young prince desperately gazed at me. “From a fellow Lucian prince to a fellow Lucian prince. How can I find these Chosen Seven? Do you have any clue? Please, help me break this barrier! I need to get to her, please!”_

_“I want to help,” I said to him. “I don’t know who these Chosen Seven are. The only thing we can do is to wait.”_

_The young man cursed, not directly at me, but right towards the gods. How he blamed them for putting a curse on the Lucis Caelum family members, known as ignorance. I got nervous and weary with the young man’s anger and tried to calm him down._

_I don’t know what to do. What Chosen Seven? Why am I having these dreams in the first place? And who was that nameless young prince I was speaking to now?_

Talcott flipped the next page and scratched his head. “I guess that’s it for the ninth interview.”

“That Prince Drake sounds really depressing,” Gladio frowned. “Never mind that he died really young of some freak accident, but man. The things he had to go through.”

“Perhaps he was getting these dreams so that he may be able to reach his older brother’s future descendants?” Ignis made a guess. “The Lucis Caelum Family’s history with the gods, for the most part, are still shrouded in mystery. Even I am running out of thoughts and interpretations of these interviews.”

“Well, we got the last interview left,” Talcott shrugged. “Then that would be it for the Cavaugh section.”

“Let’s hear it then,” I commanded the intern.

“The last interview took place some two years later. Now that’s really creepy. The sidenote said that a month later, King Valerian passed away. Two months after the king, Prince Drake gets into a hunting accident and also dies. Man, that’s just… what horrible ways to die… I wonder how King Sabinian went through all of those tragedies, despite that he eventually ascended as the twenty-first king of Lucis. Anyway, I’m going to read now.”

_Once again, thank you for putting up with me. Forgive me for postponing several times already. I had to be present, right next to my father, as well as supporting my brother, who will become the next king after him. Father was getting worse and worse with his illness and Sabinian couldn’t help himself but isolate himself from the rest. He was suffering more for Father than I was, therefore all I can do then was to comfort both good men._

_I don’t know where to start. I ended up in another place. That young man was still present, continuously asking more questions about what I know. The barrier between him and the lady and white was still intact. Darkness also began to emerge, little by little, once I noticed that the sky had been fading faster than I had known. The young man was tired of trying, and I let him rest for a bit in a field blanket that I happen to found somewhere._

_While the young man was sleeping, that mysterious woman who was standing behind the lady in white and the pair of hounds appeared right in front of me. It felt quite strange that I, still at the tender age of fifteen, felt more of a guardian to this future prince of my brother’s line as he was five years older than I am, numerical age- wise. While the young man was asleep, the mysterious woman in black spoke to me._

_“I bring a message to you from the heavens, Your Royal Highness,” she started to speak. “The rise of the Chosen King shall arrive, even if the time will be ages away after yours and your family’s reign. He will be of the line of your brother, Crown Prince Sabinian, and your brother will truly become a great king to be remembered by future generations and the people of Lucis, as well as the rest of Eos.”_

_“Chosen King,” I asked her. “I don’t understand. The Chosen True King shall arise from Sabinian’s line?”_

_“He, the Chosen One, shall possess the greatest power of all, a power much mightier than all of the gods combined, to end the scourge of the stars. Such is a fate for that Chosen One. He shall restore the light that is to disappear ages after your time. However…”_

_“However? What is it?”_

_“The light will return, and all of Eos will be released of this long darkness. Afterwards…”_

_I waited for the mysterious woman to continue her message, as she simply trailed off. I gazed right at her while I also turned my eyes towards this future descendant of my brother’s._

_“All the sins caused by the purest evil will be dispelled… but the sins of man… it will remain.”_

_I shook my head. “Humans make plenty of mistakes, and many of us_ do _learn from those same mistakes. We do our best to live the best that we have, as long as we continue to live…”_

_“But mistakes that would also lead to the destruction of Eos once more?”_

_Those words hit me right then. Daemonic forces will not destroy Eos, but human sin will? Right then, the lady looked up the sky, in which day disappeared and night came. She pointed out towards the millions of stars that brightened our night. I_ stared to _the area where she was pointing. Right then, I noticed something strange about a group of stars in particular._

_“A constellation? It looks like a shape of a cross.”_

_“The shape of an odd-looking saber,” the woman corrected me. “But it is not the saber that this constellation that I am referring to.”_

_“I’m not so sure what you’re trying to point out.”_

_“Please, take a look at the stars, Your Highness.”_

_I stared at the constellation several times. From the_ books _I’ve read about astronomy and the mysteries of the stars, star formations that form a sword or a type of blade would normally contain six stars. Now that I’ve thought of that, I did notice something odd._

_“There are seven stars… one side of its blade holder looked rather irregular. There was an extra star on one side. But you still say this is a saber?”_

_The mysterious woman nodded to me. “Not all hilts are of symmetrical shapes, Prince Drake. This sword formed by these seven stars is a very special weapon that will be wielded by one of the future kings from your brother’s line. However, to unleash the true power of the sword, it must be formed by these seven stars.”_

_Immediately, I found myself gasping in surprise. It seemed that all the dreams I had been dreaming since the start of this interview series are finally starting to come together. I have dreamt of the gods reaching out to that young man and the lady in white about the Chosen Seven being the ones to break the barrier. Those seven stars must represent the Chosen Seven. I found myself breaking down into tears after realizing it. Maybe those Chosen Seven would be the ones who will save Eos from the destruction caused by human sin. The Chosen Seven are the special weapons that make up the Chosen King’s true weapon. I believe my interpretation of this must be fact._

_Earlier this morning and I woke up. Everything went by so fast. Everyone disappeared from my vision, however, I did keep in mind the seven stars creating an irregularly-shaped sword in its own constellation formation. The first thing I have done after washing myself up was to visit Sabinian in his bedroom. In three days, it will be Sabinian’s 20th birthday. It would also be the time that Sabinian would have to find the right girl who would become his future queen._

_I broke out of my silence and informed Sabinian of my dreams. He sat with me, listened_ with _me carefully, yet at the same time, he stared at me with worry in his eyes._

_“I’ll do everything that I can to protect you, Drake,” Sabinian told me that day. “You may not be_ of _an important position within the Citadel, but as I ascend the throne… that_ is, _if Father dies in the near future… I need you more next to me than ever. So please… don’t abandon me when that day comes.”_

_I didn’t know what to say to him, knowing that I have already foreseen my own death. I held his hand_ tightly, _and reluctantly kept my promise to remain on his side. He began asking me_ advise _on how he can inform his future children if this Chosen King that the gods prophesied would be coming from his line. As I am only a mere teenager at the age of fifteen, I can’t give_ any _accurate answer. Instead, I simply told him to care for his children as they are and not just future heirs to the throne._

_“It’s not me you should save, Sabinian,” I told him. “Your future grandson… well… your future descendant… is whom you need to save. Save him, and he shall fulfill the destiny bestowed upon him.”_

_It was obvious that Sabinian did not understand a single word I said. If I explained myself to my gravely ill father he would hear none o_ _f it. Even the high council, the servants, and staff, even the generals of our military, would still think that I have gone mad._

_I asked Sabinian about his power to travel through time and see if he knows how to harness it. He answered right at me: “That’s what the soothsayers say, but I don’t know how to harness it, let alone use it. How far in the future should I travel, Drake?”_

_I shook my head as I had no answer. I never asked that young prince what time he came from. But from the looks of his attire, he truly belonged way forward into the future. Maybe hundreds, even thousands, of years ahead of we are now. I felt guilty for not being able to give Sabinian the answers he has given. In the end, he simply told me to rest and try to forget about it._

_I immediately traveled to see you publishers so you can hear and record my recollections of my dreams and everything else I may have foreseen. This may be the last interview I may be able to give to you, so please, be sure to write everything to the best of your abilities. If possible, please include my visions to this new book called “Cosmogony.” Please have it published whenever you can._

_I have had the pleasure of meeting and giving me the chance to share with you all I have seen. Only you and Sabinian were the only ones who gave me this perfect chance to explain myself and what may come to the future of our beloved Lucis. I hope that you may be able to spread the word throughout the masses and simply just keep all of this in mind of what is to come._

_Thank you very much for all of this. May your hearts and lives call out for our hearth and home._

Talcott flipped the last page of that section and shook his head. “That’s it for Prince Drake’s interview. There’s also another note here.”

“Hm,” Ignis rubbed his chin. “He knows about the Starscourge. He may have possibly known about the cost that the Chosen King must pay in order to eradicate it from our world. He also knows about this… Chosen Seven. It’s just unfortunate that this poor young prince had to die in that hunting accident…”

“Should I read the sidenotes too?” Talcott wondered.

“Ah, yes, please, Talcott. I didn’t mean to interrupt you,” Ignis apologized quickly.

Talcott led out a light cough and sipped some of his tea to soothe down his throat. When he felt the soothing sensation of the tea, he finally began reading this sidenote. “The sidenote was dated a month after Prince Drake passed away. Let me go read it.”

_We came to the funeral of the new king’s younger brother, our dear friend Prince Drake. Such a shame for such a young life to be taken away like that. Some of the staff members of the publishing company began to question themselves regarding the roles of the gods to all people and why they’re so selfish enough to take lives away so early. I guess, as the saying goes, “Only the good die young.”_

_We introduced ourselves to His Majesty, King Sabinian Lucis Caelum XXI, and the role we played in his brother’s young life. He acknowledged us and mentioned that Prince Drake did_ brought _up about his visits and interviews with us and that he meant to speak with us one day. We waited a week right after the funeral to give the young king some time to recover. The royal officials announced to the public that King Sabinian will have his crowning ceremony in a short time, however, we also heard news t_ _hat the king did not want to have this coronation ceremony that soon. He mentioned something about going on a long travel. No one exactly knew where he may be heading, but he wanted some space alone to himself because he felt that he wasn’t ready to take on the throne and continue the responsibilities of his late father._

_It took the young king over a year to finally return to the Crown City. Many asked him where he had been, but all he said was that he had seen many places and have met many people that no single human has ever traveled before. The publishing company and I have decided to not pursue any interviews with the king, but instead, we asked for his cooperation to finally perfect the final manuscript for the first publication of the upcoming Cosmogony._

_Those in the royal palace have dubbed the king as The Wanderer. The king still refused to reveal to the world of his own personal travels after the sudden loss of his father and brother. At_ first _we all thought that giving the king the nickname of “The Wanderer” sounded rather insulting to a true king of Lucis. However, the king’s reaction was quite surprising in a way. He said that he deserved to earn that nickname because that was all that he did on his travels— wander and ponder._

_King Sabinian Lucis Caelum XXI, The Wanderer, somehow got stuck through the minds of all Lucians. Even we have finally gotten used to calling our king as “The Wanderer.” When the king finally settled himself to the Lucian Throne, he established a special group of officials that would help us complete the final draft. However, this was where the problem began when everything that we compiled in this notebook_ were _rejected to be included. One of them mentioned that it was the king’s orders to not include them, especially that of his brother's dream accounts_ _because it was too painful for him to read his brother’s words in print._

_Still, we never received any official documentation from the king himself regarding the rejection of this notebook. However, we also decided not to discard the notebook either, which is why you, descendant, now have possession of this notebook._

I heard Ignis gape. “’The Wanderer,’ you say, Talcott?”

“Hm, I just realized that now also, Ignis,” Talcott rubbed his chin. “Isn’t one of the Kings of Yore possessing one of the thirteen royal arms happen to be known as The Wanderer?”

“Yes,” Ignis confirmed. “Swords of the Wanderer. The Wanderer must be Prince Drake’s older brother, King Sabinian Lucis Caelum XXI.”

Talcott began jotting down his own notes on his notebook, while Prompto, Gladio, and myself rested against the bed. It looks like there needed to be more research regarding The Wandering King known as King Sabinian Lucis Caelum XXI. Because I’m not as familiar with anything about the Lucis Caelum line, I leave that to both Talcott and Ignis. In the meantime…

“Hey,” Prompto interrupted. “So, we gonna go through that entire notebook to see if there are any similarities?”

“Probably,” Talcott answered, “but I have a feeling that there’s a common theme in this notebook from the Lestallum folk song to Prince Drake’s dream accounts. They all mention these same terms: time and the chosen seven… something about the number seven. But I think I’ll save all of these until we get through tomorrow.”

Gladio frowned, sighing. “That Smithers and his obsession with Crestholm Channels…”

“More of his desperation to enter the Citadel for the sake of Lucian heritage and culture. Still, I don’t want to sound prejudiced but I’m quite weary about the people we deal with regarding the happenings at the Crown City today,” Ignis indicated, then changed his tone. “We still have to be careful about what we discuss while we travel over there. I don’t mind if it was just Cindy and Iris coming along with us, but Smithers…”

“Yeah, we’re aware, Ignis,” I said to him. “I mean, Smithers is our boss at work, Ignis, but I’m getting a little nervous, especially coming from someone who isn’t Lucian. I don’t mean to be prejudiced and all.”

Talcott closed his notebook and the old notebook all at once. “I don’t want to ruin our little fun night, guys. I know, I think we all need to take a rest for the night.”

“That’s more like it, kid,” Gladio grinned. “All these talk about time traveling and seven this and seven that is giving me a headache.”

“Hm, that reminds me,” I then remembered Ignis mentioned earlier at the kitchen regarding Prompto’s photos. “Ignis told me that you brought some old photos from your collection, Prompto. Said something that you may have something that’d help me recover more of my memories I lost after the downfall of Insomnia.”

Prompto grinned and reached for his backpack. “Thought you never asked!”

I had to know if what Ignis said about Prompto having photos of me as a young Glaive trainee were real. Not to mention that I have already met King Noctis those years ago before I met him again at Angelgard ten years later. I can feel that tonight would be all about me. Even the curious eyes of Gladio and Talcott were already staring directly right at me.

“Here it is!” Prompto moved from his spot to the open spot next to me and showed me a small dark brown photo album. “I visited the folks at the Crown City. My parents, I mean. I started organizing some of my stuff in my old room. I’m really shocked that no daemon actually invaded our house and ransack everything. All my photos I’ve taken since I was a kid were all safe and preserved, especially the ones that had Noct in them.”

“Hey,” I continued to pry as Prompto handed me the album. “Ignis also told me that the king also took photos too. Is that true?”

“Heh, Noct and I got a lot of things common than you know, Briony,” Prompto grinned with pride.

“I wonder how on earth that happened,” Ignis murmured, with Gladio nudging him on the side.

“Iggy, leave the two BFFs alone. Even though it was annoying, especially for the future king, at least Prompto really shaped his heart and had become the true king as King Regis wished. Give Prompto some credit, you know?”

“Yes, I suppose,” Ignis nodded.

“Well?” Prompto nudged me on the side. “Don’t be shy, Briony, go ahead and open the album.”

I was shy at first, but with a little push from the photographer, I opened the cover. Right then was a photo of a familiar coffee shop that I used to know years ago. I wondered if this was still standing and would like to visit the coffee shop once again. That is, I wondered if the coffee shop would be back in business ever since it was long abandoned after Insomnia met its downfall.

Right on the second page, I felt my heart ache. It was a photo of myself and my two late childhood friends, Celestine Pryor and Lena Locklear, in Kingsglaive trainee uniforms. I was the only one among the three who wore the Kingsglaive hoodie, while the other two looked very sharp in their Glaive trainee uniforms. I found myself smiling while feeling a tear forming from the corner of my right eye at the same time.

“We see a lot of high school girls, Crownsguard girls,” Prompto began as I continued staring at the photo. “But the bros and I, we’ve never really seen Kingsglaive girls before, let alone just trainees.”

I turned my head towards him, wondering what he exactly meant by that statement. “I meant to say that we’ve never seen or met any younger Kingsglaive girls before. Most of the Kingsglaive girls we’ve seen so far throughout the streets of the Crown City were a lot older. I bet some of the ones we’ve seen were probably newlyweds or new mothers or something. But still, just looking at someone donning a Kingsglaive uniform really boost up our pride as Lucians, you know?”

“Well, you three eventually ended up being Glaives, briefly,” I chuckled, reminding them of their official elevation as Glaives when King Noctis returned from his ten-year slumber. “And you guys looked pretty sharp in those uniforms too!”

“Aw yeah,” Gladio smirked. “You know, there was a plan that I heard from Cor about eliminating Crownsguard altogether once Noct finally ascended to the throne.”

“Hm?” I blinked curiously. “What do you mean?”

“Well, there ain’t a lot of us in the Crownsguard left surviving. There were more of you Glaives than us, to the point that even the Marshal himself would be promoted as a Glaive. He still planned to give the Glaive leadership to Libertus though. I think the Galahdian brother deserves it.”

“I agree,” I nodded. “Libertus became really fearless, no nonsense, and a lot more serious when he lead us to face the gods at Angelgard those years ago. After all, he pretty much lost all of his friends, his family. He had no one else left except for us leftover Glaives and… and you guys.”

“Speaking of Libertus,” Gladio continued, “he’s currently in Galahd right now. Like what the Marshal did to me by taking my family over here at Lestallum, he also made Libertus go back home to Galahd to oversee the continuing reconstruction and recovery of the entire province. I’ve seen old photos from him regarding his home region. Really beautiful. I think we all should check it out once Galahd recovers, just like all the other provinces here in Lucis.”

“So, in other words,” Talcott joined in, “all of us would’ve become Glaives, eventually. If King Noctis were still here and is now ruling over Lucis, then all of us serving him would all be Glaives.”

Gladio nodded to confirm. “We owe it to the Glaives, even though there were a lot of bad apples out of them in the past, you know?”

“Right… let’s not talk about that… please…” I sighed, trying not to think about my fallen comrades who met death after committing the greatest sin of all: treason.

I continued looking through the photos. It was mostly photos of my girlfriends and I, selfies of himself, candid shots of Gladio and candid shots of Ignis. As I continued through the photos, I felt my heartstrings strummed once I saw a photo of a certain young, raven-haired, blue-eyed young man, gazing out somewhere, contemplating something. I couldn’t find the right words to say and continued on with the photos. However, at this time, I can feel that the eyes of the guys around me were aiming right at me.

More photos of the raven-haired, blue-eyed young man appeared from page to page. Eventually, there were group photos and selfies until I found that one particular photo that made me quiver right away. That raven-haired, blue-eyed young man was sitting with a glinting smile. I was sitting just adjacent to him, with Ignis sitting next to him. Somehow, I can feel the hairs of my skin rise up at that time.

“I… I think I remember his name…” I pointed my finger towards the raven-haired, blue-eyed young man. “I mean, this kid. He was wearing the same high school uniform as you, Prompto.”

“Yeah? And?” Prompto stared at him with an excited anticipation on his forehead.

Right then, I remembered the surname. “Elsie! That’s his last name! Elsie, right?” I continued to think when I realized one thing about the three friends. They always referred King Noctis as “Noct,” rather than the usual “His Highness,” or “Prince,” or anything along those lines.

“Noct Elsie!” I exclaimed, tapping my fingertip on him. “What… but what happened to him? Did he… I mean…” I didn’t want to think about the fate of this kid Noct Elsie. I remembered him introducing himself as Prompto’s best friend. I started to wander if Noct Elsie also perished along with many innocent lives back at the Crown City on that fateful day.

“Yes. Noct Elsie,” Prompto nodded. “That was his name. Well… one of his names.”

“One of his names?” I blinked my eyes in curiosity. I stared at the photo once more, staring at Noct Elsie in particular, however, my mind was still somewhat of a blur. “Prompto, can you explain to me?”

“He’s saying that Noct Elsie didn’t die along with those other people when the Niffs invaded the Crown City,” Gladio opened up. “No. He survived. He had a chance to meet you again before he…”

Gladio trailed off, as I stared right at the men in the room. I can already see from their expressions that this kid Noct Elsie was definitely very special to them. But, Gladio also said that he had a chance to meet me again then? Before he…

Moments later, that was when it hit me. One of his names, Prompto mentioned. That would mean that “Noct Elsie” was not his real name. I even murmured his name slowly, only to realize that “Elsie” was not one word, but they were initials, L.C. After the realization, and the eventual discovering of Noct Elsie’s real identity, I found my heart hurting and placed my hand over it.

“Are you okay, Briony?” I heard Talcott’s trembling voice.

I snapped my head towards the intern. “This kid Noct Elsie… it’s King Noctis, wasn’t it? That was him? Well, Crown Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum back in those days… what on earth…”

I could feel my head having another migraine. I haven’t had any migraines for a very long time now, not as often as I was when I was a Glaive. All the memories began to flow right through my head. I could hear worried voices from the guys when I couldn’t even scream out my pain at that time. I found myself burying my head against the carpeted floor, as the intense pain was growing quickly. Along with that pain, all those memories that remained lost began to pour and flashed right before my eyes. The visions were so vivid that I can even remember the exact words that I’ve said and even the exact words that everyone, even the king, have said to me.

I felt an arm wrap around my shoulders. When the pain began to subside, my ears finally heard the present voices calling out for me.

“Are you alright, Briony?” I heard Ignis whisper. In my inner girlish self, I would have silently squealed and blush all at once, but the headache was a lot more overbearing than his arm. “What just happened?”

“Shall we call a doctor?” I heard Talcott suggest. “I mean, that headache looked really bad and the way you were—”

“No!” I shrieked, turning my head towards the young intern. “Don’t… Talcott. I’m… I’m fine…”

Prompto gazed right at me with worry. “What happened, Briony? Your head?”

I stared immediately right at him. “Prompto… Gladio… Ignis… Talcott… I think… no… I remember…”

“What is it?” Ignis continued to pry.

“Everything. You were right. I have met the Chosen King several years prior to Angelgard. I was a newbie Glaive trainee then and he was just a high school student who goes around with the alias ‘Noct Elsie.’ Am I right?”

Five years since the end of Starscourge and I felt like today was still five years ago. It was way too late for me to feel the true emptiness that the boys with me have been suffering for the longest time. King Noctis— Noct— wasn’t just our true king, he was also a Lucian brother to us who had a chance to get to know him a bit. But for the four boys sitting in the same room with me now, they lost a part of themselves. As for me, it’s a little different, however, I am now feeling that very same emptiness right then and now.

Prompto cleared his throat, then answered. “Noct went by several names while we were on the run. He even went by that weird name ‘Noct Gar’ at one point with that friendly master fisherman guy before during one of our travels.”

Gladio and Ignis led out a chuckle, obviously remembering that memory. “The dude even joked that he’d change his name to ‘Noct Gar’ permanently too.”

“Deep within,” Ignis joined in, “that’s what Noct would’ve wanted— the freedom to be himself.” The rest of the boys nodded in agreement.

“Well then,” Prompto changed the tone. “Now that you remember your witnessing to Noct’s awakening at Angelgard those five years ago, did you and Libertus and the other Glaives even took the time to… you know… chat with him a bit before he returned to Leide?”

I nodded quickly. “Very clearly now. After Gentiana brought her message to him right when he woke up, he gave us a chance to prepare the royal vessel for his homecoming. While we were doing just that, he did come around each of us Glaives and had a little chat.”

Random flashes of that one particular memory at Angelgard began to appear in my eyesight. Next thing I knew, I could clearly hear his voice from that day… or night… well, night.

“So, what did King Noctis tell you?” Talcott asked curiously.

I took a sip off my tea and then began my story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are a lot of things written in this chapter that are theory-based (at least, my own theories) and obvious fanfic elements. There is one thing that is a fact though: Talcott mentioned in both the main game and in Comrades that the Cosmogony isn't the only book that contains the historical records of Eos, but there were also ancient documents discovered by Ignis that also mentioned different facts and figures that were not mentioned in the published Cosmogony. I decided to take advantage of this and created the "third notebook" of unpublished passages and tales for the story.
> 
> I gave "The Wanderer" a name, Sabinian Lucis Caelum. Altogether, there are 113 (114 including Noct) Lucian kings total throughout the entire history, however, out of the 113, only thirteen of them were chosen to wield special royal arms that form the Armiger (at least that's the impression that I'm getting). One of the thirteen is "Swords of The Wanderer." The game's description of "Swords of the Wanderer" (copied/pasted from the FFXV Wikis) goes something like this:
> 
> _"A king who found no boundary nor limit to the land and wandered the world, going where no man had gone to before. Known to have wielded daggers that could combine into an enormous besieging weapon."_
> 
> The former statement did not exactly say where in the world did he wandered off, nor did it state the reasons why this king earned the moniker "The Wanderer." When you travel and wander around, you can also travel and wander around through time, can you? So, I made a theorized fanfic idea that the "powers that can travel and manipulate time" come from this particular king.
> 
> The next chapter will have a lot of back and forth with time periods, but I've done all I can to make it a little easier to read.


	4. Back to Angelgard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After receiving a brief migraine, Briony recalls more of her missing memories and was able to give a clearer recollection of her only meeting of the Chosen King, King Noctis Lucis Caelum CXIV, after his ten-year slumber, at Angelgard Island. She reveals to the men that the notebook, known secretly as the "Lovers Notebook," that Noctis and Lunafreya used to communicate with each other in secret, was passed on to her and Libertus before the king set sail back to Lucis to end the Starscourge and reclaim his throne. The men hoped that Briony still has the notebook, but reveals that Libertus has the notebook kept safe and guarded in Galahd. After the revelation, the pieces of the puzzle have been brought together as to why the interim leaders of the Lucian Restoration refused to open the Citadel doors to the public for the last five years.

**Angelgard Island, Southern Lucis**  
 **M.E. 766** _(Five years ago - The final night of the Starscourge)_

_**Briony Pacem** \- 34-35, surviving Kingsglaive, former Crow’s Nest Diner waitress and hunter_   
_**Libertus Ostium** \- late 30s - early 40s, de facto captain of the remaining Kingsglaive_   
_**Noctis Lucis Caelum** \- 29-30, King of Lucis_

_“Go forth, O Glaive, with honor restored, and ascend to the greatness you so rightfully earned.” - Bahamut_

I don’t even remember the exact date when His Majesty the King made his return back to Eos. After all, the Long Night caused by the Starscourge already gave all of Eos the perception that this was definitely one long night on a very long date. I don’t even know old I was at that time because I stopped counting when the Long Night has arrived. After all, I was too busy fighting daemons here and there to bring more refugees back home in Lestallum than me socializing with old and new friends. We were all doing the same thing at that point. No time for parties, no time for hangouts, just a few camping gatherings together once in awhile, sharing old stories, sharing the good times, sharing our best memories that we have as humans before the Long Night came. It seemed that I have been forever in my late twenties. Or am I in my thirties already? No. Definitely in my thirties now.

After all, our de facto captain of the remains of us Glaives, my old training mentor Libertus Ostium, did not stop counting. He kept counting the days, recorded the dates, still counted on the old second-hand watches instead of relying so much on the digital clocks. He kept records of every single one of us surviving Glaives ever since he picked me up from the open grounds near the Longwythe branch of the Crow’s Nest Diner, which I had been working and earning some money for almost a year so I can get back home to my family at Lestallum. My memories were still somewhat hazy, so did the rest of the Glaives. However, as one of the chosen Glaives to return back to Angelgard after some ten years (according to Libertus’s records anyway), there were only two things that became stuck in our minds: First, protect Angelgard from all the incoming daemons from the skies to the seas. Second, wait until the King of Kings returns from his slumber and prepare for his return to our home.

Those two goals finally made me realize what it really meant to fight for the hearth and home. Throughout my fifteen years, maybe even more, wearing the Kingsglaive uniform, those words always echoed through my mind since I started as a naive Lestallum girl to a soldier of humanity. Even when I was working as a diner waitress while struggling to figure out who I was and how I ended up there in the first place, the words “for hearth and home” always rung through my mind. Lestallum wasn’t just hearth and home. Lucis wasn’t just hearth and home. Rather, the king himself and all of Eos is hearth and home.

When we arrived at Angelgard right when we heard Gentiana’s calling through our minds some nights ago, or hours ago, well, no one can tell what date and time really are then, I felt that our several years of fighting and risking our lives to keep these daemons at bay were nearing the end. We still had to fight the daemons who dared try to fly and infest the holy grounds of Angelgard. We all knew that with Gentiana and the pup named Umbra aiding us throughout our years of tumultuous journeys, the gods were watching and the Ancient Kings of Yore were watching. They were not just watching King Noctis at slumber. They were not just watching his royal retainers and his closest friends. They were watching us Glaives closely and precisely. After all, this whole entire series of troubles for these past ten years all befell on us. Our late comrades who decided to turn their backs against Lucis committed a grave sin, and as a belief throughout the Glaives, a fault of one is a fault at all. Even though I didn’t follow the decision as some of my friends did then, it was also my fault for failing to stop them from Niflheim taking control of our home country.

Libertus and two of our Glaives whom I didn’t get to know as much as I have, Elia and Miles, all had our stories to share. The de facto captain even felt that he committed the gravest sin of all among us. He turned his back on Lucis and blindly joined a resistance group who was actually cooperating with the enemy all this time. He knew that what he did was a great sin, because not only he blindly committed treason, but he also revealed the interior of the Citadel from the entrance to the throne room because he was one of the few who had been in the throne room and all over the Citadel for assigned duties, so it only made sense. He also mentioned that he didn’t just turn back on King Regis, who so gladly accepted him and bestowed him his own royal godly powers as a proud soldier of the Kingsglaive, but he also turned back on us, his fellow Glaive comrades, especially his best friend, whom he never got reunited: my other training mentor and our Glaive hero, Nyx Ulric.

Elia’s sin, she said, was that she gave up being a Glaive after learning the terms of that bogus peace treaty and ran away as an AWOL, not turning back. Miles’ sin was that he blindly joined his friends on betraying the Lucian crown until he learned eventually that they were conspiring with the enemy, just like how Libertus did with that radical group he secretly joined. Rather than fighting back, he cowardly ran away from the Crown City and gone on hiding somewhere in Leide to save his own skin.

My sin? I had two. My first one: I was different from the other three from the beginning. Even though I was more than qualified enough to be a Glaive out in the battlefield, I was trained specifically for something different. I was also supposed to hand deliver— hand deliver— very important intel to King Regis, seeing the entire chaos going on that day. I had to race against the Niffs and whoever traitors who were with them to get to him. I didn’t mind dying on that day as long as I succeed in delivering that intel to the king. However, even as I’m living now, I still felt like a failure, to the point that it was better to forget everything and lead a new life. Sadly, that hope actually came true until the first time we visited Angelgard.

My second sin? I’ll talk about that later.

On the second time that we were called forth back to Angelgard, we asked Gentiana the reason why we were there. Yes, we had always been battling daemons as guardians of all sides. It wasn’t until we landed at the shores that Gentiana revealed that very soon, the king shall awaken, and the gods wanted us four specifically to be the first witnesses to his awakening. We knew we had a lot to apologize for, for abandoning the king and the Crown City, for letting the Niffs enter the wall, for the entire destruction of the heart and soul of Lucis. I personally wasn’t ready for this because I knew I would be speaking on behalf of my late friends and my other comrades who turned their backs on the world. I was also very nervous in the presence of the true savior known as King Noctis Lucis Caelum CXIV. I knew I wouldn’t be able to look at him in the eye.

“It will be alright,” I heard Libertus comforting me as I lay down on my sleeping bag. I never felt so tired in my whole life and I could see three of my Glaives revealing themselves aging gradually. Elia and Miles still reminded me that I was still young and I still got a lot to live for and that I should be lucky. Still, just not being able to die in the midst of battle or despair to save others was already a sin.

“How do you know that it’ll be alright, Libertus?” I once asked him.

“Are you saying you’re more nervous facing the king than facing the gods, especially the one whom we just battled, Bahamut?” I heard Miles made a joke of the situation, nudging me on the side.

“Dude, you don’t get it.” I got up from my sleeping bag and placed the hood of my Kingsglaive hood jacket over my head, just so I could keep myself warm. “The gods are one thing, but the Chosen King… haven’t you heard the tall tales and the stuff mentioned in the Cosmogony when you were a kid?”

“Hm, something along the lines of the King of Kings will possess power that will supersede the powers of the gods,” Elia nodded. “Yeah, I remember my mom telling me these stories as a little girl. But you know, that’s what we all thought, that they were just tall tales.”

“They’re real, guys,” Libertus joined in the conversation. “Believe me, Nyx, Crowe, me, we all thought they were tall tales too. But not when fate decides to call upon you, especially that you’re officially wearing the Glaive uniform of all types, that your eyes are finally opening to the true reality. Look at us now, and look where we are now.”

“Here we are,” Elia continued. “We’re here, camping next to the royal vessel, just resting, waiting, for the King of Kings to finally arrive, in the last place we’d ever thought we’d be.”

I stretched my arms, yawning like I have never yawned before in my whole life. I knew I needed sleep right away. “Go ahead and sleep, Briony,” I heard Libertus giving me a small command. “You deserve it.”

“Wake me up when he comes, okay? I mean, the crown prince… I mean the king… King Noctis.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll wake ya.” Miles gave me a thumbs up. I lied back down and tucked myself into my sleeping bag, finally closing my eyes.

I don’t know how long I was asleep then, but then, somewhere in my dream, somewhere out there, the one whom I thought I would never see again suddenly arrived, right before my eyes…

  
**Pacem Family Residence (The boys’ bedroom)**  
 **Lestallum, Province of Cleigne**  
Kingdom **of Lucis**  
 **M.E. 771** _(10:00 p.m.)_

“Noct?” Prompto gasped, interrupting my memory sharing to the boys. Ignis and Gladio groaned at his sudden interruption that Gladio even slapped Prompto on the shoulder. “Hey!”

“Do you mind keeping silent, Prompto?” Ignis showed his chagrin through the tone of his voice. “I’m listening to Briony’s Angelgard witnessing, you know.”

“I mean,” Prompto took a deep breath. “You said someone whom you thought you’d never see in your life again suddenly showed up in your dream. Was it Noct?”

“That’d be nice, but no,” I gave a slightly sarcastic response to his guess.

“Okay, maybe not Noct. Was it Lady Lunafreya?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me, Prompto,” Gladio frowned, crossing his arms. “Why would Lady Lunafreya visit Briony in her dream?”

“Well, they did meet more than fifteen years ago before all the downfall crap happened, I remember Briony telling us that. Right, Briony?”

I nodded in agreement regarding the Oracle, but I’ll mention about her later. When we met those years ago, that was Glaive-related, not girl BFF related. “That would have been nice too, but no, not the Oracle.”

“Well damn,” Prompto frowned, then immediately snapped his fingers. “Oh! Your training mentor, you know, Libertus’ buddy, what’s his— oh, Nyx Ulric! Right? Was it Nyx Ulric?”

“Well, you’re close… but no, not Nyx Ulric.”

“That lady black mage Glaive, Crowe Altius, right? I remember Libertus mentioning her a lot back then too!”

“Not Crowe.”

“Your girlfriends, uhh… Celestine and Lena?”

“Damn, I can’t believe you actually remembered their names, Prompto,” I heard Gladio muttering with a grin on his face.

“I don’t want to talk about them, Prompto,” I sternly replied. If we were going to talk about the people in the past, not about those two girls. I mean, let’s just say, I’m not ready to talk about them yet. Not yet at this point.

“Uhh… your childhood dude friends, um… Aaron and Cecil, right? Or was it your fellow intel dudes, Desmond and McCullers, right? Maybe your entire intel unit?”

“Are we going to play guessing games or are we going to hear more of Briony’s story, Prompto?” I could hear Ignis sounding rather annoyed at this point.

“Oh come on, Iggy, just asking questions makes you a lot more engaged and—-”

“I think I know who came back in your dreams, Briony.” Right then, everyone fell silent when Talcott interrupted the entire guessing game.

“Ya got something, little man?” Prompto grinned excitedly.

Right then, Talcott lifted a copy of the new book, REAL STARSCOURGE TALES FROM REAL, EVERYDAY LUCIANS, vol. 2, and tapped his finger on the book. I responded to him by nodding.

“What? Seriously?” Prompto gasped, taking the book from Talcott’s hands. “Him?” He tapped his finger on the book the same fashion as Talcott.

“That’s right, Prompto. Him.”

“Him who?” Gladio showed a perplexed expression. “Who are we talking about now?”

“Gladio, you didn’t get your copy of the new volume of the Starscourge Tales series?”

“I just got mine earlier today and I haven’t started reading yet,” Gladio raised an eyebrow at Prompto. “Give me a break.”

“Briony’s tale, I believe, is included in the second volume, Gladio,” Ignis indicated the reason for him.

“Is that so?” Gladio smirked. “I’ll read the book later. I’ll let you continue your story, Briony.”

I smiled at the big guy. “Thanks, Gladio.”

  
Angelgard **Island, Southern Lucis**  
 **M.E. 766** _(The final night of the Starscourge)_

That same dark-haired, blue-eyed, all black clad kid who used to bother and pester me since I was ten-years-old, of all the times, suddenly appeared in my dream. Everything was misty first, including him. However, when the mist cleared, I found myself sitting against a boulder on the shores of Angelgard. On the top of the small boulder was him, sitting down. There was something a lot different from how I remembered him.

He looked rather pale and was somewhat transparent. I always thought of him as my childhood imaginary friend but it turned out that he was real flesh and blood. He just disappeared right in front of me when I first arrived in my dorm for my first Glaive training at the Crown City. That day really broke my heart because I got so used to seeing him as my guardian of some sort, even though he was a bratty little jerk at times. Still, I eventually learned to move forward, and when I finally got to meet more friends, I just suddenly have forgotten about him.

It felt a little awkward to see him sitting with me at the boulder at first. But he was the one who spoke to me first.

“I forgive you,” his first words said to me. “I guess this wasn’t really meant to be.”

I turned my head, even revealing my still visible slash scar on my right cheek that was covered by one side of my bob haircut. He gazed at me right at the eye and blinked. “You’ve gotten a lot older than the last time we hung out together. You now look like the Briony that I know…”

“Thanks, I guess,” I muttered with nerviness in my tone.

“But you’re still not her, not the Briony I know and respect in my time. I still forgive you though.”

I frowned, crossing my arms, raising an eyebrow at the same time. “Sorry I didn’t become the person you knew from your time.”

The boy shook his head. “Not your fault. After all, too many things happen that got nothing to do with you, but somehow you get involved in it. I made a mistake.”

I stood up from my spot, facing him directly. “Sorry, you picked the wrong person.”

“No. It was a mistake for me to go back in time to find you and… make you think that you and your friends would be able to save my parents.”

I shook my head. “I don’t know what to tell you. I failed you also. I didn’t get to meet your parents. It was… well, it was way too difficult with the situation that I was then… and the fact that most of us Glaives lost a lot of our memories after we… miraculously escaped… from the destruction of the Crown City. I pretty much lost everything, I got lucky I got shelter and a job at the Longwythe area at Leide so I can earn money to go back home to Lestallum and…” I found myself mumbling out my excuses to my imaginary friend, silly as it may sound.

“I know… I know all that, Briony. Like I said, it’s not your fault. I should be the one to take the blame… and now I’m paying for it.”

I took a closer look at the boy and blinked with a surprise. I couldn’t see him as a whole flesh and blood like I used to. He looked like he was just a faded and imaginary version like I always thought he was when I first met him. What was going on, I thought.

“I’m dying, Briony… and I’m scared to die…” The boy muttered. From the way he flashed his blue eyes at me, he looked really serious.

“I should’ve died a long time ago,” I answered him. “Then again… we all die one way or the other one day. We just can’t see… or know… when.”

He then gave a grin. “You don’t think about dying, lady. You’re a Glaive. You never think about dying. You only think about your mission and how you’re going to accomplish it. You also never think about failure or you’ll never accomplish the missions you were given.”

I sighed right then. “I’m about to meet the new king right here at Angelgard soon. Does that mean that I’ve finally accomplished my mission?”

“You’d be surprised,” he remained to grin. “But things will work out after that, hopefully. At least for you and your new friends. Just… not the way I’d expect to turn out, that’s all.”

I found myself stuck in the situation where I wanted to bring up those same questions I asked him as a teen and him avoiding those questions. At the same time, I shouldn’t be asking about him, but rather keep an eye out for King Noctis’ arrival anytime soon. Still, the temptation can be overwhelming.

“About what I asked you those years ago?” The kid raised an eyebrow at me, meaning I got his attention. “I know I failed to meet your parents. I’ve met so many people, especially when I returned in Lestallum, all refugees from all over Eos, that I never really thought about you or the parents that you wanted me to meet. What was I supposed to do then when everything was a blur to me? But just to be fair, shouldn’t you at least tell me who you are?”

He stared at me without flinching, not saying a single word, just like from the beginning. I once again called out. “Come on, Nyx. Please?” I found myself kneeling as if I was reporting to the king instead of just an imaginary friend.

Moments later, Nyx turned his head over his shoulder, then turned back right at me. “He’s coming.”

I stood up quickly. “Nyx?”

“The King of Kings is coming.”

“Nyx, who are you, really? I mean the real you. Who are your parents, at least tell me so that I can write their names down and look them up, dead or alive. I’m an intel Glaive, I can find all these things really fast! At least, give me names, Nyx.”

“Briony, His Majesty is coming.”

“Nyx, come on. You can’t do this to me. You can’t just disappear without giving me the answers I’ve waited for the last thirty-five years…” Before I knew it, Nyx started to fade quickly as if he was being erased. “Nyx!”

I ran closer and attempted to wrap my arms around him. Once again, he disappeared into thin air, just like how he did when I first got my acceptance letter from the Kingsglaive. I shouted out his name so that everyone, even the gods, could hear my frustration. Success or failure with this final night of the Starscourge was not in my mind. At that point, I found myself being that Lestallum girl again and calling out my imaginary friend, falling down on my knees and punching the Angelgard sacred ground I was standing on. I didn’t know what I was cursing out at the moment, but I do remember wishing that I was dead instead of meeting the king and who knows what would happen after that.

I bit my bottom lip to refrain myself from crying. I was always known as a crybaby since I was a kid, and my father’s reluctance in sending me out to the Glaives was probably the only way for me to overcome my excess crying and sensitivity to everything. I haven’t cried for the last ten years since I recovered most of my memories. And then this kid suddenly shows up, makes his abrupt goodbye again, and here I was again, crying.

I used the sleeve of my Glaive uniform to wipe off the tears when from out of the blue, I hear Nyx’s echoing voice through my head. I didn’t think of it at first until his voice faded for good.

“Hey, Briony. You believe in happily ever after, don’t you?”

I looked up the night sky and called out with all my might, hoping Nyx would hear me then. “Of course I do!”

“Make it happen. You got time on your side.”

Time on my side? I heard my voice muttering the latter words. Right then, Nyx’s voice never spoke to me again.

I left my family again back at Lestallum for this. I haven’t met with them as much right after I returned from passing Bahamut’s trial at Angelgard. Aside from not being able to see my family again, I lost pretty much everything. I lost my childhood friends, I lost my fellow intel Glaive friends, I even lost my fellow battlefield Glaive friends like Crowe. But still, I reconnected with a few familiar faces and I got reunited with my training mentor Libertus and met new friends, like other Glaives, familiar Crownsguard figures like Marshal Cor Leonis, and most of all, I met the King Noctis’ best friends, whom back then did not realize that I’ve already met them several years ago as a tender Glaive trainee. More on that later, of course.

Make it happen. You got time on your side.

Moments right after, I woke up from my sleep from something wet on my cheek.

  
**Pacem Family Residence (The boys’ bedroom)**  
 **Lestallum, Province of Cleigne**  
Kingdom **of Lucis**  
 **M.E. 771** _(10:10 p.m.)_

Once again, Prompto jumped in again. I could already hear the annoyed groans coming from both Gladio and Ignis, while Talcott remained silent and diligent, just listening along. “’Time is on your side’? You know, since I arrived back here at Lestallum I kept hearing the same ol’ song from that one busker group across from the library singing that song that goes something like ‘time is on my side, yes it is’ like it’s some kind of an omen… maybe?”

I felt goosebumps immediately on my skin when I began to rub my upper left arm to keep them calm. “I know I may sound unrealistic now,” I started responding, “way too hopeful maybe, but with the song, those buskers were singing this morning. Next, this mysterious old donor stops by the library and donated to us these old original Cosmogony draft notebooks. Then, as we go through, that word time kept appearing several times. And now, here we are, talking about the memories that I thought may have lost in time forever.”

“This imaginary friend of yours that you wrote about for the Starscourge Tales anthology book,” Talcott broke his silence, “the way you described him… always wearing black, black hair, blue eyes… really sure sounds like King Noctis, doesn’t it?”

I shook my head. “But Nyx and King Noctis are not the same person, Talcott. I know, I thought of that too, but it turns out that they’re not the same person.”

“Maybe a relative of Noct’s, perhaps?” I heard Ignis break his silence also. “On the other hand, if the young Nyx really were of Lucian royal blood, I would’ve known about him myself. But alas, not even Noct mentioned anyone with the first name of Nyx with the exception of Libertus’ bosom friend.”

“Nyx Ulric,” Gladio, Prompto, and Talcott mentioned our Glaive hero’s name simultaneously. Still, kid Nyx was not Nyx Ulric either.

“Maybe this Nyx kid really was your imaginary friend, Briony,” Gladio made his statement. I couldn’t argue with him because he may be right. However…

“I’d like to think the same, but he was real, Gladio,” I made my defense. “I actually held his hand those several years ago. He also placed his hand on my head and on my shoulder several times those years ago. He was true flesh and blood. He was real, and he said he came from the future, and that we knew each other really well during his time too… unless him being a real human being and not some figment of my imagination also happens to be imaginary too.”

“From the future… where exactly?” Ignis began his questions again.

“He’s like you guys. He’s from the Crown City. I even asked him if he could point out where he and his family lived during his time on the same day he disappeared when I finally got there for my first Glaive training. He never told me anything.”

“Perhaps this boy was keeping things quiet for the sake of… well… just a thought,” Ignis rubbed his chin, already in contemplative mode. “And then, from what I’m hearing from Talcott while reading your story in the new book, he wished for you to save his parents, specifically. You were right in your story that you’ve got so many questions that needed answers directly from him, and yet he gave you none. I too have several questions myself.”

“Me too,” Prompto nodded. “Like for example, of all the people in the world, he chose you, specifically. Why choose you? And another question too— he said according to your story that you and he knew each other from his time and that you were really close. Maybe he’s your son?”

“She already stated in her story in the book that he isn’t,” Talcott corrected him.

“Well darn,” Prompto crossed his arms. “Then, I don’t know who he is then. If he’s not Noct, if he’s not Nyx Ulric, if he’s not your future son or something, then… who the heck is he?”

“Maybe the kid is someone else’s son, and those parents he mentioned are probably some of your friends,” Gladio pointed this out right at me. “Maybe they were your fellow Glaive comrades?”

“Perhaps, Gladio,” Ignis nodded. “After all, for a lad his age, he sure knows a lot about the Glaives in general. As far as I know, the only ones who truly know who the Kingsglaive are and their true purpose, aside from Libertus, Briony, and their Glaive comrades themselves, are the high council and the Royal Family. After all, it was King Regis himself who founded the Glaives just about a year after I became Noct’s new companion at age six.”

“Which means, Noct must have known a lot about the Glaives himself too. He just… doesn’t really talk about them that much.” Gladio crossed his arms. “Well, we Crownsguard know about the Glaives a bit too, but not as much as say… Marshal Cor.”

Prompto scratched his head and turned his curious face right back at me again. “Anyway, going back to this Nyx kid. I seriously can’t help thinking about it because the way you described him really, really, and I mean really reminds me a lot of Noct when we were kids. I mean, we briefly met at elementary school, you know? You agree with me, Iggy?”

“Indeed,” Ignis rubbed his chin. “However, this Nyx lad also stated that he lives in a time past us. Like the rest of you, I too have a lot of questions needed to be answered, so much of it that I can’t even figure out where I’m going to start.”

“Seriously, Briony,” Prompto once again crossed his arms. “How did you know that your buddy Nyx isn’t the same person as Noct?”

I let out a sigh and took a deep breath. “Simple answer, Prompto. He told me himself.”

  
Angelgard **Island, Southern Lucis**  
 **M.E. 766** _(The final night of the Starscourge)_

The spitz-like mocha-colored mutt known as Umbra stared at me once I slowly opened my eyes. Apparently, the wet feeling that I felt on my cheek turned out to be the dog trying to wake me up by licking me on the cheek. After spending almost ten years fighting daemons with my fellow Glaives, Hunters, and former Crownsguard who turned Hunters, Umbra had always been on our side this time. Sometimes Gentiana would make an appearance with briefings and updates regarding the state of the king’s status somewhere out there. Some of my Glaive comrades and myself ever wondered if Umbra was invincible because he seemed to miss the opportunity for him to get killed. On the other hand, Umbra was Gentiana’s dog.

Then later, as my memories continued to get restored, I remembered that I have somewhat met Umbra before. That was around twenty years ago when I was still a young Glaive already installed in Tenebrae for intel covert missions. I have met the Oracle herself, but who hasn’t met the Oracle, you know? She was an open book to all the people of Eos and it was rather simple to meet her when you need some counseling and healing. As for me, counseling and healing were not the reasons why I was able to make secret rendezvous with her in the first place. More on that later.

I got up slowly, with Libertus, Elea, and Miles staring at me, sitting upward like they were earlier. There were no incoming invasions or battles from the flying daemons surrounding the skies of Angelgard right now, which somehow became a miracle. I turned to Umbra, who then sat right next to me, still staring at me.

“He just arrived,” I heard Libertus speak. “Umbra, I mean. Looks like he’s got a message from Hammerhead.”

“Yeah?” I muttered, fixing my bob cut. “Hammerhead though? Is Marshal Cor there? New orders?”

“Not for us, Briony. For the king.”

“Oh. I see. Then… he really is finally going to wake up… today.”

“Better be prepared, kid.” Libertus patted me on the shoulder, as I stretched my arms out.

“I was having a good nap too,” I told the dog while Umbra continued to stare at me. “But it also had a sad ending.”

“We heard you crying,” Libertus reminded me. “I heard Nyx’s name coming out from your mouth, but then I figured, no way you were dreaming about our ‘hero’ Nyx. It had to be someone else.”

“Yeah,” Miles nodded. “Whoever this other Nyx was, sorry to hear.”

“I’ll tell you about him later,” I told the Glaives. “Got no time to talk about sad stories about some imaginary friend, you know?”

“Imaginary friend?” I heard Elea speak with concern in her eyes. “Why have an imaginary friend, Briony? You got us here… even Gentiana and Umbra too. Right?”

Elea had a point too, you know. All I could do was a nod. “That’s right, Elea. I still got you guys… and all our comrades and buddies back home in Lestallum.”

At that time, Umbra got up and dashed away forward towards the island. I stood up, with Libertus raising his hand to block me. “Where’s he going? Umbra?”

“The time has come.” That ethereal familiar voice spoke right from behind. When we all turned, Gentiana appeared right then. She walked past us and stood between Libertus and me.

“He’s awake? The king, I mean?” Miles asked curiously, with Gentiana turning right at the curious Glaive.

“You four were the chosen ones by the astrals to come and witness the awakening of our Chosen King,” Gentiana reminded us again. “You four were also the ones to accept the trials of the astrals for the absolution of the sins your past comrades have committed against humanity these past ten years. Let the King of Kings approach you and listen to him speak.”

Libertus bowed to Gentiana’s ethereal appearance. “Thank you… for this honor, Gentiana. We could never have done it without you.”

Moments later, we hear light dashing footsteps heading our direction. And then, we heard a soft bark at the same time. Umbra finally arrived and stood right in front of Gentiana. Then, a few paces behind him, I felt my small hairs and goosebumps rising from my skin again. My heart began to beat rapidly when the figure who followed Umbra from behind finally glistened by the unending moon from the infinite night sky.

All clad in black from head to toe, unruly black hair, light stubs and beard already covering much of his face, so much that he was almost recognizable by my fellow Glaives. Libertus stood up first. We quickly followed our leader right after. Once we were on our feet, the de facto Kingsglaive captain spoke casually to His Majesty.

“Your Highness, I’m glad you’re okay.” I remembered right away that Libertus spoke to us about his brief encounters with the prince whenever he and Nyx Ulric were on assigned duties inside the Citadel. He always preferred speaking casually as if he was your fellow Lucian brother than that of the future king, he said. Even after ten years, even after the king appeared as scruffy as myself and the Glaives, Libertus still spoke to him like he did those ten years ago.

The king faced Libertus first. “You… did all this… for me?”

There was something very familiar about the king’s voice. A huge chill continued to crawl up my skin once the king spoke. I knew that this was the first time I have met King Noctis in my life, but at that time, somehow there was indeed something familiar about the voice and the way he spoke. It was really difficult to determine at that time, and I let Libertus and Gentiana do all the speaking. I felt that my voice disappeared, or that something was preventing me from speaking. Instead, I became a silent witness.

Libertus was about to approach King Noctis, but stumbled a bit. Gentiana held him by the arm to save him from falling, with the king opening his arms to help him also. Once Libertus got himself straight on his feet, Gentiana took over from here.

“All this, for the King of Kings,” she began. “Let not their sacrifices go in vain. He must make haste for the Seat of the Stone and ascend as its rightful heir.”

King Noctis moved forward to the royal vessel behind us, passing through us while we make our way for him. Gentiana turned to him.

“Our paths shall cross again,” she said.

“Thanks. I hope they do.” The king answered her.

He turned again to the royal vessel, approaching and ready to jump in. Umbra followed him from behind, but once he was going to step on the vessel…

“Your Highness!” From out of the blue, Libertus called out to him. The king turned and gazed right directly at us. “If I may…”

“Libertus.” I gulped nervously once the king mentioned our captain’s first name. No way in hell the captain was making everything up about him being able to communicate with the king those years ago. “What’s up?”

“At least… let us have this final battle. As your Kingsglaive, give us a chance to engage in this final battle with you. Let us make the first leap in battle before you.”

Part of me leaped for joy that I would have a chance to fight again, and not just that, alongside the king. I may be in my mid-thirties now, but I still have my youth remaining in me to continue on fighting. The other part of me was pulling me back, letting me know that joining the king for the final fight may probably be the biggest mistake of my life. Still, Libertus’ words really got the king’s attention.

“Before I say anything,” King Noctis began, “if Gentiana wouldn’t mind, I’d like to have a word with you four.”

Gentiana nodded, stepping back and to the side. The king climbed back down from the vessel and faced all four of us. I couldn’t even find myself facing him then, as I had my eyes staring at the ground all this time.

“Miles… Elea… Briony…” Right then, I could feel myself having a heart attack. How on earth did the king know our names? We couldn’t even speak or even have the guts to introduce ourselves after all the failures and struggles we’ve been through, and then this?

“Your Majesty,” Miles and Elea quickly responded to him, and yet I still felt that something was holding my tongue and just bowed with no words.

“A word with the two of you first, individually.” He then turned to both Libertus and me. “Afterward, the both of you will be next.” Again, I responded with just a bow, as the king, Miles, and Elea walked at another private area, leaving us where we were standing.

Gentiana turned to us and smiled, nodding at the same time. She and Umbra made their way also, leaving the two of us. Libertus stared right at me, with my eyes panicking at the same time.

“Cat got your tongue, kid?”

I blinked and shook my head. “I… I don’t… I mean… I mean that’s the King of Kings there!”

“Like I told you before, you speak to him like your fellow brother, not as the one you should look up or be worshiping about. That ain’t his style.”

I placed my hand on my rapidly beating heart so I can calm down. “What am I going to say to him when he starts talking to me later, Libertus?”

The captain placed his hands inside the pockets of his Glaive jacket. “Whatever your heart tells you. I think you would feel a lot better when you talk to him like you were chatting over a cup of coffee, you know?”

The latter regarding over a cup of coffee somehow hit a nerve inside me. Where have I heard this before? It was like more pieces of my missing past was beginning to come back to me, little by little. Over a cup of coffee? I wonder what that meant.

  
**Pacem Family Residence (The boys’ bedroom)**  
 **Lestallum, Province of Cleigne**  
Kingdom **of Lucis**  
 **M.E. 771** _(10:30 p.m.)_

“So, he delayed his return back to Lucis, just to talk to you guys individually?” Prompto blinked, turning his head towards Gladio and Ignis all at once.

“At least he knows we were waiting for him at Hammerhead. Good thing Talcott was able to find him and pick him up,” Gladio reminded the blonde photographer, then turning right at Talcott.

“The gods are watching over the Chosen King, so to speak,” Talcott answered. “Finding him in the middle of the street near Galdin Quay was a blessing to me at that time.”

“Great job finding him and bringing him back safely, Talcott,” Ignis thanked him then, with Prompto patting the intern.

“Besides, Noct would be doing that before he makes his next move,” Gladio continued.

“Doing what?”

“Having a talk with the people who’ve done great deeds in his name,” Ignis answered for Gladio. “I assume that the answer to your questions regarding your imaginary friend Nyx came from this one-on-one talk with Noct, Briony?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “I was the last person he spoke to because I was too damn nervous to even look at him in the eye, so much that he gave me the time to calm down and decided to talk to Libertus instead.”

“Did Libertus tell you what he and King Noctis talked about?” Talcott asked curiously.

I nodded. “All I know was, Libertus told me that he and the king talked about one thing.”

“What was that?” Prompto asked.

“Nyx Ulric.”

Prompto lowered his head. “Noct knew him. Nyx Ulric was driving his car with him in it, few days before we left the Crown City. He was his driver back and forth from the Citadel to his apartment and back. I even remembered him mentioning that after we left, he handed his keys over to him too. I wonder what happened to that sweet little Audi?”

“Probably got blown up along with the rest of the Crown City,” Gladio shrugged.

“Lady Lunafreya crashed it while trying to escape the Crown City and the number of daemons and probably MTs running after them,” I quickly answered them. “Libertus told me about it.”

Prompto gasped in shock. “Lady Lunafreya did… what? Did Libertus make that up?”

I shook my head. “Libertus never makes stuff up, Prompto. He was sitting next to her in the Audi and he gave her the wheel because he was trying to fend them off while they make their getaway. They had no choice but to crash the car.”

“I bet Noct would be so pissed when he hears his lady love totally ransacked his car on purpose,” Gladio joked. “Then again I shouldn’t be laughing. We crashed the Regalia at Niflheim too when we were looking for Prompto and the crystal. Poor Cindy would be going through mourning for the loss of her purty Regalia.”

“Shall we let Briony continue?” Ignis reminded them, clearing his throat. “What else did Noct and Libertus talk about besides Nyx Ulric?”

“Just about him, Ignis. It was then that Libertus finally learned that Nyx Ulric perished along with our fallen comrades back at the Crown City. He had to do a lot of reflection during that talk, he said. He realized then that waiting till something happens was a sin on its own, though I thought he needed to explain more on that.”

“Huh…” Prompto murmured. “Wait… Noct told Libertus that Nyx Ulric is… gone? But how’d he know about that?”

“Well,” Ignis whispered, tapping his finger on his chin. “Let me try to remember…”

“Poor Libertus,” Talcott sighed. “I don’t know a lot about what really happened in Galahd when the Niffs invaded them. I’ve only heard bits of it from my grandpa then. I bet Libertus lost a lot of loved ones there that he only had Nyx Ulric as his family, so to speak.”

“Pretty much,” I gulped, trying not to shed tears again. “He didn’t say much about his family back in Galahd, so I also assumed that they died during the invasion and didn’t ask him about it. I don’t even want to think about how he’s been feeling now. He lost his entire family in Galahd, lost his ‘little sister’ Crowe, lost his best friend Nyx Ulric…”

“He hasn’t lost himself, that’s the most important,” Talcott added. “If it weren’t for him you Glaives would’ve never found your way to Lestallum then, and would have never gotten the lights back on without your efforts.”

I nodded in agreement. “That is one thing that led him to continue on living. I don’t know the details of what those two talked about that night, but somehow, maybe Nyx Ulric’s iconic status as the hero may have influenced the both of them on the run.”

“Well then,” Ignis changed the tone before we all get distracted. “When Noct finally spoke to you one-on-one, did you finally recover from your… panic attack?”

I nodded with slight embarrassment, even though I know Ignis would never see my expressions. “Yeah. I had to take deep breaths on my own before the king approached me.”

“Already?” Prompto blinked curiously.

“Libertus walked with him, so when we did talk to each other, he was there watching over me, so that I don’t end up saying something stupid.”

“I thought it was one-on-one? Did you ask Libertus to stay?”

I shook my head. “No. King Noctis wanted him there for a very special reason.”

  
Angelgard **Island, Southern Lucis**  
 **M.E. 766** _(The final night of the Starscourge)_

“On your feet, kid.”

I was sitting down, staring at the dark sea while leaning my back on that same boulder that I dreamed earlier when little Nyx gave me his final message. I turned my head to my right to see Libertus and the king approaching my direction. I stood up straight and bowed with my arm across and fist tightened in the standard, the traditional Kingsglaive way of saluting.

“Eyes forward,” I heard Libertus giving me orders. I got my body upward but my head would not look up. “Come on, Pacem, you can do better than that.”

“Er, I think it’s better if we just sit down, Libertus.” I heard King Noctis interrupt the formalities. Somehow, those words eased up my tension and then slowly looked up. “It’s fine, let’s sit over there at your boulder.”

Never have I imagined or even had a thought that I would sit right beside the king of Lucis in my life. Facing him and looking up right at him was standard, but sitting right next to him on the rocky shores of Angelgard, with Libertus sitting on my other side. I’ve done all I can to refrain myself from having another panic attack, however, there was something really soothing about the king’s voice that really made me feel more at ease and somehow, found my real self again.

“You’re still recovering your memories, I get it,” King Noctis began. “But if it helps you, we’ve met before. A long time ago. We even hung out together too, even if it was for a few days.”

I took another gulp and released out air. “We… we did… Your Majesty? Wh-when?”

Libertus looked right at me and I began to bite my lip. There was a rather awkward silence. I can also tell that the king was also thinking of the right words to say, or at least, answer. He turned right to me and gave me his answer.

“You got mugged one time and Ignis found you, then he took you to my apartment because you lost your keys to your dorm and your money got stolen.”

“Wait… you mean his apartment. Wait, hold on a minute!”

My eyes opened wide with shock. I admitted to myself that I have forgotten that one particular memory. It was also the night right before I shipped out to Tenebrae for my first assignment. I didn’t even bother asking questions about him, however, what he said then finally got me a lot more comfortable than I was before.

“Well,” the king grinned. “Now I finally got your attention.” He continued staring at me then, while I was tempted to look away and stare at Libertus instead. However, even my eyes were fixated right on him also. “I see you’ve gone really scrappy yourself. That scar on your right cheek’s proof enough.”

Quickly I covered the slash on my cheek. Right, I thought. I did not want to recall how I got that scar in the first place. “Yeah. I try to ignore it, but it hurts a lot when I got it. But whenever I end up looking at myself in the mirror and see this scar, it starts to hurt again, so… I just let this side of my hair cover it so I won’t have to look at it.”

“Painful memories, huh. Yeah, I know how that feels.”

“It also reminded me of how much of a failure I am as a Glaive,” I continued on without thinking. “If it weren’t for us Glaives, your father, King Regis, and everyone at the Citadel, and even the crystal, would’ve been saved. If it weren’t for me getting distracted while I was on my way to send manual intel to the king himself, both your father and the crystal would’ve been spared from those Niffs.”

“You shouldn’t be thinking about what happened then, Briony. Things happen for a reason,” the king answered. “That was a long time ago. All of that will finally end later today when I arrive at our home soil. That, I promise you.”

I nodded quickly, biting my bottom lip again. “I have so much to ask you… and so much to tell you, but I shouldn’t be holding you back because our comrades back home have been waiting for your return.”

“Well then,” the king cleared his throat. “Just to be fair for all of us, share with me what you have in your mind right now. The most important one that you have in your mind right now.”

I found myself sweating with nervousness when I turned my head to Libertus again. He still remained silent and just simply nodded at me. There was one thing that I really wanted to know about. Because King Noctis is the Chosen King, I assumed then that he can foretell something from the future or that he may predict things that may happen in the upcoming future. I finally dared ask him that one thing that I was never given answers to.

“I… I know this may sound silly and I know I’m too old talking about this,” I began, but still the king has ears right at me. “I… I have… had… an imaginary friend. He had been with me since I was ten-years-old. He… he was short… well he was a kid after all… and he was wearing all black all the time… just like you, Your Majesty. Black t-shirt, black shorts… black sneakers… his hair was black and scruffy… kind of like yours… and he has deep blue eyes…” Suddenly my eyes found the king’s deep blue eyes. I even dared to continue. “Blue eyes as deep… as yours, Your Majesty.”

I could hear Libertus grown silently knowing he must be tired of listening to me talking about my imaginary friend. Still, the king continued to listen. “Imaginary friend, huh? What’s your friend’s name?”

“Nyx.”

The king raised an eyebrow again. “I see that the Kingsglaive hero Nyx Ulric really must be that special.”

“I mean, not that Nyx,” I frowned while turning my head at Libertus, apologizing to him. “I mean… that’s the name of… of my friend.”

King Noctis rubbed his chin. “Your imaginary friend named Nyx, huh?” I nodded slowly. “Well well. Tell me about your friend. Short form.”

As much as I can paraphrase, I described to him who Nyx was, how he looked like, how long he had been hanging around with me, and everything else. I also mentioned that he appeared to be just some moments before his awakening, and the last words he said to me before I could no longer hear him again.

The young king shook his head, sighing. “I’m sorry. I know I go around using different names but I never used the name Nyx as one of my aliases. And… I don’t have any other direct relatives within the family. I’m the last one of our line. Aside from your comrade Nyx Ulric, I don’t know any kid by that name.”

I lowered my head, knowing my hopes of learning Nyx’s identity was lost and gone for good. “Thanks for… confirming it to me, Your Majesty. Maybe he really is just a figment of my imagination.”

“Do you really think that, Briony?” I found my eyes opened wide again after hearing the question.

“What do you mean? About Nyx being a figment of my imagination?”

“I know it may be hard for you to believe, but I also have an imaginary friend who I also thought was real.”

I got up with surprise with Libertus placing his hand on my shoulder. “You? An imaginary friend?”

“I’ve never told anyone about him, not even my bros, my closest friends, not even Ignis. The only one who knew about him was my old man. He first started appearing to me when I was eight… when I was… er… under medical attention.”

“Medical attention? You were sick?”

“Meh, you could say that. But, he saved my life, so I really owe my life to him.” He then gave a slight snicker. “Unlike your buddy Nyx, mine isn’t even human. We couldn’t communicate with each other because he was a sea green furry little fella about the size of a cat, maybe, but he texts me his words on my smartphone.”

“He… what?” I raised an eyebrow, with Libertus trying to refrain himself from laughing.

  
Pacem Family Residence (The boys’ bedroom)  
Lestallum, Province of Cleigne  
Kingdom of Lucis  
M.E. 771 (10:50 p.m.)

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!” Prompto interrupted again, much to the annoyance of both Gladio and Ignis. He began to scratch his head with curiosity. “Noct has… had… an imaginary friend?”

“Heh, I knew that brat ain’t normal,” Gladio joked at the thought. “I mean yeah, he’s special, he’s our king, but if we’re talking about personality, he ain’t normal.”

“You’ve got… you’re making this up, are you Briony?”

“I don’t make crap up about people who are no longer here, Prompto!” I shrieked in defense. Talcott found himself scratching his head while Prompto turned right at Ignis.

“Iggy, you’re like the closest to him, did you know anything about this?”

Ignis shook his head. “King Regis have given him a special talisman when he was recovering from his injuries at Tenebrae. It was shaped in such an adorable-looking creature made out of wood that the king placed next to Noct while he was in a coma. It may sound rather strange, but he had been hanging on to that animal-shaped talisman ever since. That must be what he must be referring to as… his imaginary friend. I could be wrong, of course.”

“Hm,” I muttered, “never mentioned anything about a lucky charm or talisman or whatever. He just said that he had an imaginary friend that’s a cute little sea green animal… thing.”

“So, what’s the little critter’s name?” Gladio asked curiously, grinning at the same time.

I shrugged my shoulders. “Dunno.”

“What do you mean ‘dunno’?” Prompto frowned.

“He never told me his name.”

“What? You told him about that kid Nyx, he doesn’t even tell you his name?”

“He never even knew his name.”

“Ugh, what?” Prompto attempted to refrain himself from breaking into laughter, but to make it all up, he ran to the balcony and shouted out to the night sky. “What the heck kind of imaginary friend you’ve got here, Noct? You don’t even know its name?”

“Hey, Prompto, shut up! You’re disturbing the entire neighborhood!” Gladio ran to the blonde man and dragged him back inside. Once we all settled in our spots, Prompto calmed down and changed the subject.

“Say, lemme back up a bit. Before that imaginary friend thing, did I just hear that Noct mentioned about you, Iggy, and an apartment?”

“Ehem,” Ignis cleared his throat. “That was an emergency. I had to take her back home.”

“Well, well,” Gladio began the grinning again, which made me sigh out. “Didn’t know you had that in you, Iggy. You, a lady, and an apartment.”

“Come now, Gladio, it’s not what you think. She needed some help after she was—”

“So,” Prompto began the teasing. “So, you and Iggy… how was that one night alone in the apartment? Was it a wet, cold, and rainy night and you two had to… warm up together and…”

“If your curiosity’s peak is that high, Prompto, I shall let you know that Briony and I were not alone in that apartment.”

“Oooh, so there was a third person there? Was it a three—”

“Okay, that’s enough! You know we have a minor in this group!” I quickly interrupted the bro talk before things get escalated.

“I’m twenty-two, Briony, I’m not exactly a minor,” Talcott shook his head right at me. Of course, I thought. We’re all adults here, even though I still see the young intern as that seven-year-old kid that I first met fifteen years ago.

Just as I was ready to continue on, Prompto had another idea pop into his mind. “Oooh! Wait… you said you two weren’t alone in that apartment. I asked who the third person was, and then I remembered…” He reached across from me to get his photo album from my lap. He quickly flipped the pages and then pointed to a few photos of…

“Wait… how…” I pointed at my twenty-year-old self looking rather scruffy and dirty, slightly bruised on my face. I still had that short bob cut then and I was taking a nap while sitting back on the couch.

“I actually found these pics from Noct’s phone. Obviously, he took these photos himself. I wonder why,” Prompto blinked, rubbing his chin. “Are you saying that the apartment that Iggy took you in was Noct’s apartment?”

I blinked with surprise. “Ignis’s apartment. That’s what he said.”

“Naw,” Gladio shook his head. “The color of the couch you’re lying on is a dead giveaway. That’s Noct’s apartment, alright.”

“Noct said it was Ignis’s apartment,” I crossed my arms. “He kept saying ‘his apartment’ all the time when I was there.”

I heard Ignis sigh. “I played along with His Majesty’s game back then. I had a hunch that Noct didn’t want you to know he was the crown prince, so he played things off with me being the owner of the apartment and him being a… an uninvited guest.”

Normally, I don’t really tolerate liars, however, King Noctis obviously had a good reason why he had to hide his identity those years ago and even changed his name to something silly but obvious “Noct Elsie.” At least when we met again back at Angelgard, he no longer hid his identity, but he was trying to make me remember that he was indeed that weird assassin-obsessed kid named Noct Elsie. I wanted to shake my head and laugh at the same time. His Majesty the King of Kings got me right there.

“I’ll… I’ll tell you more about that apartment thing later,” I reminded them.

“Well,” Talcott led out a sigh. “There goes the mystery of the imaginary friend Nyx… who is not King Noctis and not Nyx Ulric.”

“So,” Ignis continued. “Briony, aside from your… imaginary friend Nyx. Did you and Noct… talked about anything else?”

“Well… there was one reason why he wanted Libertus there when we had our chat,” I answered. “King Noctis— Noct— wanted to give us something very important to him and hang on to it until… well… I don’t know, really.”

The three men gasped in shock to hear what I just said, with Prompto getting up. “Noct gave… how come he didn’t give us anything in return? Instead, I gave him the best shot I got that he chose? I mean yeah, he gave us memories and his friendship, but still.”

“Prompto, just shut up, and let the lady talk,” Gladio frowned.

  
Angelgard **Island, Southern Lucis**  
 **M.E. 766** _(The final night of the Starscourge)_

After I listened to the king’s story about his cute sea green-colored imaginary friend, whom he also admitted he did not know its name, he ended it with the words that got Libertus and me demanding again.

“What I’m about to embark next… I really wish that he was there with me now, just like how you wished your friend Nyx would be here with you now.”

I raised my eyes open with Libertus moving his head to look at the king. “Once again, I ask you, Your Highness, we may have fought for ten years to keep you safe, but even when you’re awake now, we all feel that there is so much more for us to do with you. The only thing I could think of is for us to take us back home with you and fight alongside with you, all the way to the Crown City, all the way to the entrance to the Citadel.”

I nodded in agreement with Libertus. “We may be older than we used to be ten years ago, but we still possess the powers of your ancestors. We could still fight on.”

The king nodded, smiling, but at the same time, shaking his head. “It’s time for you and the rest of the remaining Glaives to have your well-deserved rest. The Starscourge isn’t yours alone to fight and defeat. There is a reason why I ended up in a very long slumber. I never felt more ready than ever.”

He stood up from his spot, with Libertus and I standing along with him. “But still, Your Majesty,” I protested. “Lucis isn’t the same as it used to be ten years ago. There’s barely any humanity left in that land. Everything’s completely infested with daemons. A lot of humans…”

“Yeah,” Libertus sighed. “A lot of humans who didn’t make it to Lestallum… they’re daemons now. That’s why it’s best that we travel with you and let us fend the daemons and give you way. We need our king alive to end this Starscourge once and for all.”

King Noctis sighed deeply. “I know and am aware of what our lands have become. That’s why it’s my turn to do my part. You and the Glaives have accomplished your mission and you have done everything that you needed to do as the mighty Kingsglaive. Remember, there are hunters and Glaives waiting for me at Hammerhead. I’ll let them do their part this time.”

“Understood, Your Highness.” Libertus made his salute and I followed suit. King Noctis only nodded in return to our saluting.

“Before I leave,” the king began after we lifted ourselves up again. “The reason why I had you stay with my talk with Briony here, Libertus…”

“What is it, Your Majesty?” Libertus asked.

“There is something that I want to give to the both of you. Please, keep it safe, and hold on to it until the right time comes.”

I looked at Libertus with a perplexed expression, as the stout captain also gave me a confused expression in return. Then, the king reached inside a pocket of his black jacket, and out came a somewhat faded brown… or red… or beige… I can’t tell the exact color because of the dark sky. However, something struck me regarding the notebook he was handed to us. There was a bright golden yellow design on the cover of the notebook. There were a small dove and flowers… very familiar flowers.

“I’m sure you know what you see on the front cover of this notebook, Briony,” the king said. I felt the chills running down my spine after he mentioned those words. Of course, I knew what the design was on the cover.

“Sylleblossoms,” I answered. I got closer and then picked the notebook from his hand, so I can take a closer look. “Yeah. Sylleblossoms.”

“Just like the pendant you’re wearing, Briony,” Libertus pointed at the silver pendant I was wearing. I revealed it from underneath my uniform. It was a very old, almost fifteen-year-old pendant necklace that the Oracle gave me as her present when my intel unit and myself were heading back home to Lucis as our intel mission behind enemy lines was completed. It was a gift, not just for our brief friendship, but to also remind me that I would always have a home in Tenebrae should I need to escape Lucis for any other reason.

“Yeah,” I nodded, biting my bottom lip to prevent myself from shedding tears again. “I can’t believe she’s gone… I mean…” I shook my head quickly and then handed the notebook back to the king. “We can’t take this, Your Majesty. It’s yours.”

King Noctis pushed my hand back with the notebook. “There’s no more space left in the notebook, and our chapter is over. She… well… we made a promise that once this notebook has been filled, that we would hand it to the most trustworthy people we both have known.”

“Wouldn’t that be Ignis? Or Prompto? Gladio even?” I asked, suggesting his three closest friends.

“You’re right about that, but I said, the most trustworthy people Luna and I have known. Luna has never met any of the guys, though it would’ve been nice. There were names and stories of the people we know and care for written there aside from… other unrelated things… and we both have to thank Umbra for delivering this notebook back and forth for the past twelve years. The guys know about the notebook but I never really told them what we write about.” He paused for a bit, then almost broke into laughter. “How convenient it is to have seen the both of you at the same time and place, would’ve been a lot more awesome with your comrade Nyx Ulric with you too!”

I blindly handed the notebook to Libertus, as he reluctantly take it from my hands. I could hear the Glaive captain swallow, then out spoke his words. “We’ll… we’ll keep it safe for you… and Lady Lunafreya, Your Majesty. Just… just let us know when you want it back.”

“Thank you. We appreciate it.”

Finally, it was time for the king to make his way back to Galdin Quay. The Glaives and I assembled right at the royal vessel, with Gentiana and Umbra waiting for us there. Once he got on the royal vessel, with Umbra following him from behind, he gazed right at us once more.

“Glaives,” he called out. “The foundation of a brand-new Lucis, from now on, will start with you. Libertus, I pronounce you Head General of the Kingsglaive. Once this is all over, and when the real right time comes, you, Briony, and the rest of you remaining Glaives will tell our story… mine and Lunafreya’s story, throughout Lucis, and throughout all of Eos.”

Libertus raised his arm and bowed as his way of saying thanks for the promotion. I also think he deserved that promotion. After all, even the Kingsglaive needs a good, trustworthy captain, more trustworthy than the captain before him. After he lifted himself up, he asked: “When will you want us to spread yours and the Oracle’s story to the masses, Your Majesty?”

The king waved. “I leave that to you, Libertus. You have ‘us’ in your hands now.”

Right when we all exchanged goodbyes, the king, with Umbra with him, began to set sail back to Galdin Quay. We waved right at him, with tears trickling down our eyes. At that time, somehow, it felt like this would be the last time we would get to see him.

Once the royal vessel disappeared from our sights, Miles looked up the sky. He pointed right up, as we all followed his finger.

“The flying daemons… they’re flying away from Angelgard skies!”

“They’re heading back towards Lucis,” Elea muttered. “They must be following the king!”

“Panic no more, O Glaives,” we heard Gentiana speak from behind. We all turned to give her attention. With her eyes closed, she continued to speak. “You Glaives have done more than enough, but as prophesied, it is the will of the Chosen King to end the Scourge of the Stars. The gods are very pleased that you have done your bidding to protect our Chosen King these past ten years from his slumber. His path to his destiny is his way of exchanging and giving thanks for all the sacrifices that you and your comrades, past, and present, have made.”

We headed back into the mountainous structure, right at the open arena where we have fought Bahamut and the rest of the gods watching us. We sat around in a circle, with Gentiana still standing behind us. She continued on. “You Glaives will remain here until daybreak. The gods still need your protection here just in case something more drastic happens on the Chosen King’s path. Soon, the Chosen King will call for my guidance, and when the time comes, you need not panic but remain to wait. As long as you are within the circle of this trial arena, you are in good hands.”

“Thanks for everything, Gentiana,” Libertus answered for us. She nodded with a smile, as the four of us faced each other again, looking a lot more confused than ever.

“So… we’re just gonna hang out here? Sleep? We got no more daemons hanging around Angelgard anymore,” Miles said.

“We should’ve gone back to Lucis with the king,” Elea frowned. “But, orders are orders.”

While we wait, still wondering what we should be doing or what we should be talking about, Libertus’ eyes suddenly lightened up. He stood up straight and called for us.

“Glaives, listen.” We gave attention to him with eyes right at him. “I have an idea.”

“Yeah? What’s up, Libertus?” Miles asked curiously.

With a gentle wave of his hand, a flame of fire appeared on his palm. “You see this flame of fire? Right now, it’s flickering at its brightest ever. I’m going to keep this flame burning until my hand gets tired. Once I get tired, one of you will do the same as I did, until your hands get tired. Each of us will take turns and we keep on doing this until daybreak.”

“I hope we don’t do this forever or else we’d all be tired,” Miles frowned.

“Oh,” Elea quickly nodded. “I think I see where you’re getting at, Libertus.”

  
**Pacem Family Residence (The boys’ bedroom)**  
 **Lestallum, Province of Cleigne**  
Kingdom **of Lucis**  
 **M.E. 771** _(11:05 p.m.)_

“No way!” Prompto and Gladio exclaimed in shock once I was about to tell them about our little flame on a flick of a hand game. “You have Noct’s and Lady Lunafreya’s notebook?”

“Libertus has it,” I answered them. “The notebook is somewhere in Galahd.”

“You gave the notebook to Libertus?” Prompto gasped. “Why didn’t you take it yourself, Briony?”

“I’ll tell you more about that a bit later,” I repeated again, but it looks like Prompto was getting a little impatient.

“Man, we all wanted to know what those two have been writing about all this time,” Prompto sighed.

“Love letters, duh!” Gladio rolled his eyes. “I could see it now… they’re—”

“Ehem, right,” Ignis cleared his throat, obviously interrupting them on purpose. “I’m not in a way sad or offended. Maybe somehow, subconsciously, he and Lunafreya were still communicating with each other in their own way. You and Libertus, as well as Nyx Ulric, were probably the only non-royal related Lucians besides the royal family who made close contacts with and eventually gained friendships, somehow. Noct has encountered and met the three of you, as well as Lunafreya at some point. It would only make more sense that if it were someone who would share with the world their story, it would be coming from someone who had known both of them personally. I myself have never met Lunafreya, therefore I am not the right person to carry on that duty.”

“Still,” Prompto frowned, “I don’t get why you let Libertus keep the notebook.”

“There is a reason for that, and it was our way of honoring the both of them,” I answered. “It was also written in the notebook when Libertus and I decided to read a few of their passages.”

“Yeah? It said that Libertus is the one who should be keeping the notebook?” Gladio asked.

I shook my head. “No. It’s more of the dream destination that the two of them have mentioned, the first place that they would want to go right after they get married.”

“Oooh, like their honeymoon destination?” Prompto smiled.

“Something like that,” I nodded.

  
Angelgard **Island, Southern Lucis**  
 **M.E. 766** _(The final night of the Starscourge)_

It was Miles’ turn to burn that little flame on his hand. Elea began running around in circles, jogging to keep in shape. Meanwhile, I was lying down on my sleeping bag on the rocky ground with Libertus just sitting down there looking bored. Knowing how bored he was, he blindly reached for the notebook from his inside pocket and began to open it.

I got up in curiosity and then leaned over to see the correspondence between the two royal lovers. There were no words or side comments were made as my mentor and I continued to read through them. After all, sometimes it’s impolite to talk about other people behind their backs that silence can be golden in this situation.

Libertus flipped through the pages, skipping most of their correspondence until he found a written date. He remembered that it was a date right after the downfall of Insomnia, and one passage struck him with Lunafreya’s handwriting first:

_“Dearest Noctis - How is_ Galahd _like? - Luna”_

_“_ Galahd _? That was random. -_ Noct _”_

_“I had a dream, that one day when we see each other and exchange our vows in Altissia, that we may embark together to_ Galahd _. I promised a friend that you and I will come and visit whenever we need a safe place._ Galahd _, is, of course, a Lucian province, correct? - Luna”_

_“I’ve seen pictures of_ Galahd _before, but I don’t remember being there. Maybe I’ve been there once. I know my father_ had _been there during his journeys before. Really nice out there, with a lot of rivers, valleys, mountains, it’s… well, it’s almost like Tenebrae. -_ Noct _”_

_“Is that so? Will you take me to_ Galahd _, one day? When… this is all over? - Luna”_

_“Who is this ‘friend’ you made a promise to? Nyx Ulric? -_ Noct _”_

_“Do I sense jealousy here, Noctis? I speak of Nyx’s true friend, Libertus Ostium. - Luna”_

_“Ha! Not jealous of Nyx Ulric at all! Though it’s unfair that he— and even his buddy Libertus Ostium— got to spend some time with you, even though you were trying to escape the Crown City. So unfair… -_ Noct _”_

_“Then it is settled. You, me, together, to_ Galahd _. Libertus will be waiting. - Luna”_

_“Luna, if we speak of wedding presents, I will take you to_ Galahd _when the day comes. -_ Noct _”_

Libertus dropped the notebook in shock while I picked it up and held on to it. “They were talking about Galahd?”

“What exactly did you say to the Oracle those years ago, Libertus?” I asked him curiously.

The captain placed his hand on his forehead, contemplating. Moments later, he gulped. “I remembered… when we parted… me and Lady Lunafreya I mean, when we parted at the bridge leading to Leide, I said to her that she and Prince Noctis will always have a place in Galahd. I even told her that me and Nyx are gonna be there waiting.”

“I guess that’s your answer to that,” I smiled. “I feel bad for them. I bet they were so young and in love then, that with this notebook, they really are in their own world, you know?”

“Ah, young love,” Libertus smiled.

“I’m just a few months older than Lady Lunafreya, you know,” I said to him. “I wonder if one day we’d find that one true soulmate once this is all over?”

“Only way to find out, I guess.”

I stared at the notebook in my hands again, and once again handed it back to Libertus. “You know, Briony, why don’t you hang on to the notebook?”

I shook my head. “I’d love to, but after seeing that whole exchange about Galahd, I think you need to make their dreams come true, Libertus. You should hang on to it.”

“Come on now, Briony…”

“Remember what the king said? This notebook represents both him and the Oracle, and if Galahd is where they want to be after they get married, then they should be able to go to Galahd, so…” I placed the notebook right on his chest. “Keep this notebook, Libertus, and bring them to Galahd.”

Libertus sighed, and placed the notebook back in his inside pocket. “You got a point, in a way.”

  
**Pacem Family Residence (The boys’ bedroom)**  
 **Lestallum, Province of Cleigne**  
Kingdom **of Lucis**  
 **M.E. 771** _(11:15 p.m.)_

“You know,” Gladio interrupted, “tomorrow we’d be taking off to the Crown City. While we’re there, maybe we should take the time to visit Libertus in Galahd? Poor dude could use some good ol’ company.”

“Perhaps I should have my eye treatment set up first before we take off to Galahd,” Ignis muttered. “I too would love to see Galahd right before my very eyes.”

“Yeah, maybe we can ask Libertus if he can… uhh… you know… show us the notebook?” Prompto grinned.

“I don’t think so, Prompto,” Gladio grunted. “Libertus would be pissed.”

“So,” Talcott broke his silence, “without the royal vessel, how’d you guys able to get back to Lucis when you were left stranded at Angelgard?”

“We got picked up, of course,” I answered Talcott. “Exactly at daybreak.”

  
Angelgard **Island, Southern Lucis**  
 **M.E. 766** _(The final night of the Starscourge)_

_**Aranea Highwind** \- 40, former commodore of the Niflheim Airborne Unit_   
_**Iris Amicitia** \- 25, Hunter_

I don’t remember how many rounds of flames we made, taking turns flickering flames from thin air with just a flick of a hand. We did some fun activities amongst ourselves, making up some songs and ballads, talking about our plans right after the Long Night ends, and even thought about opening Angelgard to the public as a tourist spot. Then we decided to scratch that idea and just leave Angelgard alone.

Libertus was already counting using his analog wrist watch. We have been flickering flames around the circle for almost two days now. But for these past few minutes… hours… whatever… the eerie sounds of the daemons have been fading gradually and that there may be signs of the dark skies clearing.

“Briony, your turn to flick the flame,” Elea reminded me.

“Alright, here goes.” I flicked my right hand and out came a flame. Only this time, I noticed that the flame was smaller than usual. Not only that, the rest also noticed the miniature flame I just made.

“Maybe you’re just tired,” Miles said.

“I’ve rested for over an hour, Miles, I can’t be tired,” I said. “Let me try it again.” I flicked my hand again and another flame appeared. Only this time, not only it was smaller, but it was also less bright than the previous one. “What?”

“Let me try,” Libertus said. He flicked his hand and out came a flame, but it was no different from the flame I made. Right then, Libertus was showing an expression of concern. “This ain’t good…”

“What do you mean, Libertus?” Elea asked. “What does this mean?”

“No… no… no…” Libertus stood up and re-flicked his hand again, but his flame was getting smaller and a lot fainter.

Right then, we all knew what the fading flame meant. We all stood up and did the same repeatedly. We also noticed that the night was finally disappearing, and the sun was rising. As the sun rose, bringing the daylight upon us again, the flames we made from our hands were extinguished, just as we feel the exhaustion dawning upon our bodies. We flicked our hands and no flames burned. Miles even tried to warp from where his standing to a further point. It all ended up with his dagger falling on the ground.

All four of us found ourselves on our knees. We gazed at one another with tears in our eyes. Libertus looked up at the now light-filled sky, with only a few words.

“Your Majesty…”

Without any other words, the four of us embraced each other, crying all our hearts out, knowing that the Starscourge has finally ended in the exchange of the dispelling of our rightfully bestowed powers of our kings. Moments after we shed our tears openly, we heard a quiet, aerial sound coming from the sky. We looked up and saw a red-tinted Niflheim airship. That can only mean one thing for us: our ride home finally arrived.

The doors opened slowly, and the Niflheim admiral herself, Aranea Highwind, and next to her, fellow hunter Iris Amicitia, waved right at us. “Time to go home, Glaives!” We heard Aranea calling out for us.

We split from one another and Libertus called out to the airship. “Land the airship! The arena is wide open!”

“What’s wrong with warping up here instead?” Iris called out right at us.

I didn’t know exactly what to say to Iris. So did my fellow Glaives. The only thing I could do then was to look up at her, and then, I shook my head with tears continuing to trickle down.

“What do you mean ‘no’?” Iris continued to ask. “What’s going on?”

“Land the airship, dammit! Now!” Aranea shouted at her pilot, to which the pilot eventually began to descend.

We stood back as far as we could as we let the airship land in the center of the arena area. Once the airship landed, both Aranea and Iris ran towards us with worried eyes.

“You four seem fine,” Aranea said, approaching us directly. “Why the glum faces? It looks like the king and the boys have finally ended the Long Night.”

“We could see that,” Libertus answered, while the rest of us Glaives wiped off our unending tears.

Iris approached me immediately. “What’s wrong? Why are you crying? I mean, the night is gone and the sun is finally here!”

I could see Elea and Miles looking at each other with perplexed faces. I decided to answer for the rest of us.

“Iris,” I said. “We can’t warp, can’t wield different weapons, can’t use magic anymore.”

“I… I don’t understand…” Iris bit her lip when Libertus turned to both her and Aranea.

“When the Glaives and I got our powers back after the Oracle summoned Leviathan, the powers of the ancient kings have re-awakened. However…”

“However… what?” Aranea crossed her arms.

“I also learned that another reason why we got our powers back, and it wasn’t just Leviathan. It turns out that the current descendant of the kings was still alive when that happened. And from what I also learned… as long as the current descendant lives, our powers become stronger and more prominent in combination with the powers of his ancestors. But… as you can see… we… lost our powers.”

“Oh God…” Aranea muttered in shock, slowly covering her mouth with her hand. Iris immediately broke into tears as I ended up embracing her, calling out the king’s name repeatedly.

Libertus nodded, sighing. “Where to now, Aranea?”

“Hammerhead. The Marshal, Dave, and the others are on their way there from Lestallum. Cor just assigned Talcott to drive over to Insomnia to pick up the retinue. We should get there immediately.”

“We’ll talk about this on the way.”

  
**Pacem Family Residence (The boys’ bedroom)**  
 **Lestallum, Province of Cleigne**  
Kingdom **of Lucis**  
 **M.E. 771** _(11:30 p.m.)_

Silence fell in the room when I decided to end my story right there. All their heads were lowered as if they were beginning to honor the king’s memory based on my last meeting with him. I didn’t realize until much later that from out of habit, even my hand began to wave and flick, hoping a ball of flame would appear right on my palm, just like how I used to as a Glaive. Though I was never really good at using magic in combat, at least I can still unleash a ball of flame with just a flick of a wrist.

Right then, Talcott noticed what I was doing. “You’re flicking your wrist, Briony.”

“Oh. Right.” I stopped flicking and lowered my head along with them.

“So. I see why you took turns flicking flames while you waited at Angelgard,” Ignis broke his silence. “You were using the flame as some kind of a lifeline for Noct during his final battle against Ardyn.”

I nodded to confirm. “The intensity and the potency of our restored powers was a lot stronger than the powers bestowed upon us by King Regis, Ignis. When King— I mean Noct— was still in slumber somewhere out there, he wasn’t dead, he was still alive. Not only that we were able to harness the powers of the Lucian Kings, but we also got to choose a specific type of magic from each of the thirteen using sigils. We weren’t able to do that years before with King Regis and sometimes I feel bad using his powers for battle. I mean, if you remembered, the more us Kingsglaive battle using his powers, the more that King Regis becomes weaker and age faster.”

I continued on with what I knew after a short pause. “The Glaives and I were a lot stronger, a lot more efficient, which was really perfect timing to take on the daemons, when we got our powers restored. If we still used the powers coming from King Regis, we wouldn’t stand a chance… not that I’m saying King Regis’ powers were weak.”

“The true essence of the King of Kings,” Ignis sighed. “If that were true, and if he still remained alive, then he wouldn’t be aging rapidly as fast as his father did. He would not have to share his powers as much as his father did with the help of the Ancient Kings of Yore.”

“We would’ve been legit Glaives ourselves too,” Gladio added. “We wouldn’t be needing the Crownsguard anymore when we’ve got everyone as Glaives instead.”

“We’d be warping and striking fast like assassins too like Noct did!” Prompto cheered, then later gave a sad sigh. “Oh Noct… I miss you so much, buddy. I really do.”

Gladio, Ignis, and Talcott nodded, remaining silent. Eventually, Talcott broke his silence.

“I got there just in time when the day finally broke. I made sure I kept my truck in check to be sure I don’t get harmed by the daemons on the way. Man, I’ve forgotten how big the Crown City was that I almost forgot my way around the city. I finally found my way near the entrance to the Citadel. When I got there, the guys were at the entrance already.” Talcott lowered his head again. I can tell he too was having a hard time telling me the rest of the story. He didn’t have to, as I was about to tell him, but he went on.

“I noticed he wasn’t with them. I feared for the worse when I got down from my truck. When I ran to them, Ignis was the one who had to break the news. The main entrance inside was still open, I wanted to get back inside, but then…”

Ignis shook his head. “When the day broke, we went back to the door to the throne room. It was locked and it would not budge. Not even Gladio was able to break through.”

“It’s like,” Gladio sighed, “it was like… it was sealed on purpose… for good.”

Prompto also began to break his own silence. “I argued that Noct was trapped in there, and that we had to set him free. However, Ignis here finally told us the truth.”

“Yeah. Let’s just stop there, Prompto,” Gladio reminded him. Right then, I picked up a bit of the pieces as to why the three somewhat went on their separate ways after that. Somehow, Ignis already knew what was going to happen, and he still has yet to reveal to us how.

“Some hours later, with Aranea’s airship,” I started, “we flew right at the Crown City. Cor stated that there was a huge hole that was blown through at the side of the throne room, but what was weird was that when we got there, we didn’t see any huge hole.”

“None of us knew what went on in the throne room,” Ignis said. “We were already away from the Crown City when the empire attacked that peace treaty signing day. I didn’t even know that there was a hole that was blown through the throne room, but… how was it that there was no longer a hole?”

Gladio rubbed his nose. “Probably the gods fixed it and decided to seal that wall off for good.” That could be a possibility, I thought. Still, the pieces were finally together now.

“That’s why Cor, with the help of Libertus and Dave, decided to seal the Citadel, all the entrances, to honor our kings,” Talcott said. “But look where it got us now. We’re in complete anarchy.”

“So, maybe… well, if everything in the throne room is sealed off, then there’s no proof that Noct is actually…”

Just as Prompto was about to make his assumption, I quickly shook my head. “Prompto, I lost my powers as a Glaive, remember? That’s more than proof enough that he perished in that battle against Ardyn. I can’t flick flames or snow or lightning bolts anymore. Can’t even call out my own shield. All my weapons except my daggers are gone too. No more warping for me too. It’s been dormant for the last five years. He’s dead, Prompto.”

The blonde photographer fell silent, trying to collect his own thoughts. Meanwhile, Gladio stretched his arms.

“Maybe we should call this a night. We got a long commute to the Crown City and meet up with that Smithers guy.”

“Indeed.”

We all stood up, stretching ourselves, as we all exchanged our goodnight salutations. I made my way to the door and then made my paces to my bedroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have watched the prequel movie, _Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV_ , and recall the last few words Libertus said to Lunafreya before they parted their ways near the end of the game, he invites her and Noctis that should they ever need a safe place to be that he and Nyx will be waiting for them in Galahd. I decided to write around that scenario in which Noct gives the notebook to both Briony and Libertus, and eventually decided that Libertus was to keep the notebook safe and bring it home with him to Galahd as a significant symbolism for the ill-fated royal couple.
> 
> Two sources that I used for this chapter: _Final Fantasy XV: Parting Ways_ (novella in which it was mentioned that Titus Drautos assigned Nyx Ulric to drive Noctis back and forth with his Audi R8 car, confirmed by Libertus Ostium when Iris confronted him, asking if he knew Nyx Ulric or that he knew Noctis. It's implicated that Libertus himself has also met Noctis at that point) and _Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV_ (prequel movie in which Lunafreya does meet Nyx Ulric and Libertus Ostium). I found a little pattern that made me decide to have Noct hand over the notebook to the individuals whom both he and Lunafreya met during their past lives. I also indicated that Briony has met Lunafreya during her first intel mission in Tenebrae, but not as much more significant than that with Nyx and Libertus.
> 
> Hope this clarifies a few things. How Briony first met both Noctis and Lunafreya (before Angelgard) will also be mentioned in this story. Just stay tuned for the future chapters.


End file.
